'Bachelorette' Contestant in Hot Water Over Offensive Social Media Posts

The Bachelorette contestant Garrett Yrigoyen seems to have caught lead Becca Kufrin's eye, but his past social media posts are drawing some unflattering attention. In the past, Yrigoyen has liked posts that disparage immigrants, trans people, feminists and school shooting survivors. He has since deleted the posts, but we all know that the internet never forgets. The question is, will Becca ignore Yrigoyen's deplorable past and choose him?

Via The Hollywood Reporter.

The contestant at the center of The Bachelorette's week-one, off-air controversy is apologizing for his "hurtful and offensive" social media history.

Garrett Yrigoyen, an early frontrunner on the new cycle of Becca Kufrin's Bachelorette season on ABC, has taken to his Instagram to explain his social media behavior. Shortly after the new season launched Monday night, Yrigoyen's political beliefs and character were called into question when screengrabs of his Instagram activity were shared by another former Bachelor contestant. The images appeared to show Yrigoyen, a medical sales rep from Nevada, liking Instagram posts that mocked undocumented immigrants; the trans community; liberal feminists; and that spread misinformation about Parkland, Florida, shooting survivor David Hogg.

Now, the contestant is taking responsibility for the posts.

"I am sorry to those who I offended, and I also take full responsibility for my 'likes' on Instagram that were hurtful and offensive," Yrigoyen wrote Thursday in a lengthy statement posted to his new Instagram account. He had deleted his former account after the reports. "I decided to take it down and start fresh because I have learned an extremely valuable lesson and am taking steps to grow, become more educated, and be a better version of myself."

He continued, "I am not perfect, and I will never be anywhere close, but now I will always be more informed and aware of what I am liking and supporting, not just on Instagram, but in life."

Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.

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