Bachelorette star Rachel Lindsay defended calling Becca Kufrin’s fiancé, Garrett Yrigoyen, a “piece of s–t” for his beliefs in a new video on Friday, July 31. The reality star said she “will not stand for hate” no matter what.
“My wording was harsh,” she admitted while addressing a popular misconception. “It’s not simply based on Blue Lives Matter.” Lindsay, 35, explained because she was “combatting” something equally harsh, she was justified in using the intense language.
Yrigoyen, 31, first sparked backlash with his June 4 Instagram post showing a black square with a blue line running through it amid protests against police brutality after George Floyd’s death. “We can’t judge all cops by the actions of a few bad ones” or “judge peaceful protesters by the actions of the few violent protesters,” the caption read.
Lindsay felt compelled to speak out again after she took aim at Kufrin’s future spouse on Danny Pellegrino’s “Everything Iconic” podcast.
The lawyer said fans have reached out claiming her wording was “problematic,” but she encouraged her followers to look into why she said it.
“When you double down and triple down on that thought and you allow those thoughts to continue to be what you are representative of. I’ve had enough,” she said. Lindsay explained there are several mindsets she won’t tolerate including being “homophobic, xenophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist and anti-immigration.”
“Those things you are standing for represent hate and that’s what you’re spreading,” the ABC alum added, noting her issues with Yrigoyen are not only to do with the Blue Lives Matter movement, but many other statements and actions of his in the past.
During the podcast appearance, she further elaborated on why she wasn’t fond of Yrigoyen. “When he was on the season — he had a history of ‘liking’ things that were racist, sexist, homophobic, calling the Parkland students ‘child actors.’ It was a lot,” Lindsay claimed.
In 2018, Yrigoyen and Kufrin, 30, spoke out about the tweets he “liked” during the special After the Final Rose. He took “full responsibility” for liking the “hurtful” and offensive” posts. Kufrin wasn’t proud to hear it, but stood by his apology.
Kufrin later called his June 4 post “tone deaf” the day after he posted it and she has since apologized to Lindsay during the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast.
“We wanted [our first conversation] to be impactful, we wanted it to be respectful, we wanted it to be uncomfortable — which it was — but ultimately we wanted that conversation to hopefully make a change in our listeners’ hearts, and Rachel, you did succeed where I did not,” she said.