Victoria Fuller, a contestant on Peter Webber's "The Bachelor" (opens in new tab) and a front-runner candidate for "The Bachelorette" (opens in new tab), came under fire for her work as a model and influencer before appearing on the show. In a promotional post that has since been deleted, Fuller apparently modeled apparel with the slogan "White Lives Matter" on it, claiming that the apparel company was focused on conservation (though it should be noted that appropriation is appropriation). What follows is what we know about the apparel company, the slogan it uses, the modeling work Fuller has done for the brand, and how this may affect her life and career in the future.

A few weeks ago, fans began to point out that one of the brands Fuller modeled for, WLM Apparel, appeared to have merchandise that promoted a "White Lives Matter/Blue Lives Matter" message. However, the brand claims that the "white" and "blue" lives in question are actually about the Marlins and not people. If you look closely at the shirt on the quasi-Confederate flag, you will see a small Marlin in place of a star.

WLM Apparel used to have a website (marlinlivesmatter.com) and Etsy, but neither seems to be working now. They still have Facebook (opens in new tab) but have not posted since 2018 (now deleted or made private) and Instagram (opens in new tab) is defunct. The company is headquartered in Virginia Beach, and their "About" on Facebook reads, "WLM Supports Marlin Conservation. It's our company's passion." (I pulled that information while Facebook was still working for me.)

Images of the apparel remain on some Instagram users' sites:

An interview with The New York Times (opens in new tab), owner George Lampurg explained that the items were designed to "promote the conservation of white and black marlin." However, given that their site is inactive, they may no longer be selling anything (I suspect that the anger currently directed at Fuller would have been directed at them at some point). Fuller has not commented on their modeling work.

During a group date in Costa Rica, contestants dressed in swimsuits and modeled for a photo shoot for Cosmopolitan; one lucky woman was chosen as the winner and ended up on the magazine's digital cover with Weber. What a surprise, Fuller won the competition. This week, Cosmo's editor-in-chief Jessica Pels announced in a statement (opens in new tab) that the digital cover will not appear on the site due to the aforementioned WLM model's work.

Pels acknowledged the stated focus of WLM apparel, explaining: "In my view, the nature of the organization is neither here nor there, and both phrases and the belief system they represent are rooted in racism and therefore problematic.

Fuller has been silent on social media for the past few weeks (her last post was on January 21 (open in new tab)), and it is not clear if this will be a topic of discussion on Women Tell All, if she will appear on the show, or after it ends. We will update when we know more.

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