The Bachelor's Victoria Larson Has The Best Response To Body Shamers
Victoria Larson, A.K.A. the "queen" on Matt James' season of The Bachelor is putting body shamers in their place (via ET Online). Her on-point response comes after video surfaced of James and friends playing golf. During the outing, someone named Jerry asks the current Bachelor, "Now how was Victoria's body? 'Cause when I look at her, it doesn't look very nice ... and you've been making out with this woman."
Larson, who to be fair is a very polarizing figure on the ABC show, decided to take the high road, commenting on the video "Cute.... I love my body" (via People). She also got her revenge, taking to Instagram to show her body shamers she has nothing to hide by posting a bikini selfie. "Y'all r too much body by @naturalpilates & @carriespilatesplus," she lightheartedly captioned the photo.
Earlier, the reality star also shared a post featuring an image of women competing in a beauty pageant, next to a picture of a man who, well, isn't exactly in the best shape ever, sitting on the couch and drinking a beer, watching the women and commenting, "Her nose is too big."
Social media reacts to the controversy surrounding Victoria Larson
Social media was quick to support Larson as she defended herself against body shaming — which is absolutely never okay. But, in response to her Instagram post, many followers noted that the star — who has been accused of bullying other ladies on the show — should be nicer given how she is now being treated. As one fan commented in part, "Sorry they made fun of you...but now you should apologize for shaming people."
Similarly over on Twitter, users couldn't help but buzz about the seeming irony of the "queen" now being taunted, with one who tweeted, "Hard to see her as a victim after all the bullying she does but not nice to #bodyshame!"
For now, Larson has not apologized for her behavior toward other women in the house. Rather, as she said on GMA this week, "I anticipated being well received, so to get the bullying messages and the hate mail and the death threats, I wasn't really prepared for that at all. A hundred percent, it was shocking. I don't think my kindness really got to show through and I really do have a good heart."
Matt James reacts to the controversy
So what does James himself have to say about his friend Jerry dissing Larson's body during the golf game? During an interview with The Real, the current Bachelor assured fans he does not "condone or stand for" bullying and in this case, body shaming (via E! Online). James went on to claim the video didn't convey the whole story, and also told viewers he shot back at his friend, "I said something to him off-camera about it. Something along the lines of, 'Victoria wouldn't have given him a second look.'"
James also made a comment that echoed the sentiments of the meme Larson posted to her Instagram, noting, "It's such a low blow for any man to try and take a dig at something like that."
"It's just a constant reminder that you need to be smart about the people you surround yourself with," James concluded during the interview, adding, "And those moments when you're in sports and people are trying to say things to you to throw things off your game, it's sad that someone would think saying something like that about a woman that I was dating would deter me from what I was trying to do."
The Bachelor also apologized on his friend's behalf and assured his fans the comment does not reflect who he is.