- Jenna Cooper, a popular "Bachelor" and "
Bachelor in Paradise " contestant, was forced to retreat from the spotlight after rumors surfaced that she'd gotten engaged on the show for publicity and maintained a relationship with a "sugar daddy." - The accusations, which reality TV blogger Steve Carbone amplified in a podcast, gained momentum online, where fans of the
ABC show frequently ridiculed Cooper and posted unverified information about her past. - After a year of investigating and gathering proof that the claims were false, Cooper approached Carbone to tell her side of the story.
- Carbone officially retracted his story and apologized to Cooper, spurring subreddit contributors to take accountability for their role in the spread of misinformation.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
When Jenna Cooper first heard the rumors in September of 2018, she wasn't concerned. The 29-year-old, who had appeared on season 22 of "The Bachelor" and season 5 of the hit show's spinoff "Bachelor in Paradise" earlier that year, was well positioned for success. She was newly engaged to her "Paradise" co-star Jordan Kimball, was a fan favorite given her lovable personality, and was positioned to parlay her sizable fanbase into a new chapter as a social media influencer.
When she began receiving tips that Steve Carbone, the reality TV blogger and preeminent source of Bachelor franchise gossip, was planning to "expose" her for bad behavior, she laughed it off.
"I hadn't done anything," she told Insider. "So I wasn't too worried."
As Carbone, who is known to "Bachelor" gossip devotees as Reality Steve, continued to tease the big reveal, Cooper started to get anxious. But her new fiancé, she says, convinced her that everything would be okay.
Everything was not okay.
The salacious story that Carbone dropped on his podcast, in which he claimed to have a series of verified text messages proving that Cooper had gotten engaged on the ABC show for publicity while maintaining a relationship with a "sugar daddy," changed her future plans drastically. Her engagement to Kimball ended — she claims he announced the split in an Instagram post before telling her himself — and after weeks of vicious social media comments and ongoing ridicule among "Bachelor" fans online, she retreated from the spotlight.
A year and a half later, Carbone would release a podcast episode with Cooper in which he would formally retract the story and apologize, telling listeners that Cooper had been the victim of a targeted misinformation campaign.
In response to Carbone's apology, members of the "Bachelor" subreddit — arguably the show's most active online fandom — are taking responsibility for their role in spreading misinformation online.
After Carbone released his exposé in 2018, the story quickly gained momentum online — and Cooper faced an onslaught of harassment.
The reality TV blogger broke the story on September 11, the air date of the pre-taped "Bachelor in Paradise" finale. At the time, Cooper was in a hotel room in New York, preparing to go on a podcast the next day in which she would discuss the new engagement.
"I figured I'd go meet up with Jordan, we'd tell everyone it's not true, and just move on. I didn't have a 'sugar daddy,' and I'm not a cheater," she said. "I thought that would be it."
Cooper did not appear on the podcast. ABC producers, she says, instructed her not to speak on the matter. So she flew home to Raleigh, North Carolina to regroup. In an Instagram post addressed to Kimball and her fans, she vowed to prove that her engagement had been genuine and that the incriminating text messages had been fabricated.
Kimball, however, spoke publicly about the broken engagement, giving an interview with People Magazine and appearing on the
Kimball's interviews, coupled with Carbone's criticisms of Cooper, sparked intense online harassment, with Bachelor fans taking to Twitter to call Cooper a "sociopath" and "a monster." Some physically threatened her and her family. Eventually, she deleted her Twitter account.
Kimball did not respond to Insider's multiple requests for comment.
Carbone initially stood by his reporting, well aware that his exclusive story had damaged Cooper's reputation.
"In the back of my mind, like, I knew what I did, and I knew what had happened to her and the hate that she was getting," he told Insider.
Weeks after the allegations surfaced, "Bachelor" fans continued to fuel the story online. Subreddit contributors continued to investigate the issue, posting information about the alleged "sugar daddy," including his full name and photos from his social media profiles. Others speculated about Cooper's mental state and some shared "inside information" regarding her alleged romantic history.
Cooper, in an attempt to clear her name, promised to conduct a "forensic analysis" of her phone and all text messages. Her response only prompted more ridicule online; subreddit users quickly adopted the term "forensic analysis" into posts mocking contestants.
"I was pretty much losing hope, getting attacked on every social media platform every day," Cooper recalled. "People were literally telling me that I deserve to die. So I felt like I couldn't go out in public, couldn't get a job. I wondered how it would affect any future relationship. I didn't even know what to do next."
Her emotional state, she says, was not helped by ABC's involvement in the situation. The show's psychologist, she claims, continually prodded her to admit to an affair — and she eventually cut off contact after finding the sessions too distressing.
ABC declined to comment for this story.
While she maintained a modest social media presence and largely retreated from the public eye, Cooper spent a year and a half investigating the origins of the false claims.
Enlisting the help of attorneys and a cyber investigation company, she and her family explored every avenue — from analyzing her phone records to finding the sources of anonymous DMs and Reddit posts — ultimately tracing much of the false information back to two people who had been stalking her fiancé and had expressed a vested interest in Kimball becoming single.
The process, Cooper says, was "insane" and grueling, and she struggled to make sense of the bizarre vendetta against her.
"It's really hard to prove you didn't do something," she said. "And I just didn't know why someone had it out for me like this."
After organizing months' worth of evidence, she reached out to Carbone.
"She sent a very detailed email with everything she gathered over the last year in a half, which included tons of screenshots of Twitter accounts — all circling back to the same person — DMs that she received from Instagram accounts that were created just to contact her, even a few videos linking one person to these accounts," Carbone told Insider. "Just a lot of stuff that I was completely unaware of — and enough for me to realize that there was a major misinformation campaign happening at that time."
Ultimately, Carbonne explained, the two discovered what they believe to be an overlap between one of the Twitter accounts sending harassing DMs to contestants and the Twitter account linked to one of his sources.
"They probably never thought Jenna and I would ever speak and combine our notes," he said.
While Carbone said that the two decided not to reveal the names of Cooper's tormentors, largely for safety reasons as they believe one of the perpetrators is "unstable," he is confident that he was given false information back in 2018.
"It was pretty crazy," he said. "I'm taking the time now to really vet my sources."
When Carbone retracted the story in April, members of the "Bachelor" subreddit immediately weighed in — and many decided to take responsibility for their actions online.
Following the release of Carbone's podcast episode, The "Bachelor" subreddit's moderators issued a statement regarding the online forum's role in perpetuating the debunked story. In the post, they explained that the current moderator team had not been in charge during the immediate aftermath of the incident — and in months since the scandal, the subreddit's rules regarding "unverified tea" on contestants had changed, barring the wild speculation about contestants and the sharing of unverified information.
"We just want to say (to Jenna and to our sub users) that we are truly sorry that this situation occurred and that Reddit played such a large role in it," the post continued. "Our current mod team is highly invested in keeping this sub a more positive and ethical place. It is not an easy task, but we hope that you all will trust that we have a sincere desire to correct mistakes of the past. "
One subreddit contributor wrote a post titled "This sub owes Jenna Cooper (and others) a huge apology," in which they recapped the online forum's role in spreading misinformation and implored Redditors to do better in the future.
"This isn't even the first time this sub has publicly crucified someone over something that turned out to be fake," the post reads. "People here need to take a long, hard look at themselves. You know who you are. Your 'right to tea' doesn't outweigh the fact that the person on the other end is a person with a life and feelings. Put yourself in her shoes for one tiny half second and think about how horrible you would feel if something like this happened to you."
Reddit user sendmehotcheetos, a "Bachelor" fan of nearly a decade who joined the subreddit nine months ago, commented on the post in agreement. She told Insider that she'd only become involved with the fan forum after the scandal broke — but she had followed the Reality Steve Podcast and was familiar with the situation.
"I knew that the general consensus on the sub was that the rumors were true, and I certainly came in believing the rumors," she said. "I probably upvoted comments that ridiculed Jenna at some point."
After listening to the hour-long podcast explaining the details of the misinformation campaign against Cooper, she got some perspective on the
"My stomach dropped. I had been so sure that what he had reported was true and all the things that had been said about her seemed justified to me at the time," she said. "Now I'm realizing that even if the accusations had been true, no one deserves to have their personal life and reputation dragged through the media like that."
Ultimately, she hopes the subreddit can hold itself accountable by "remembering that these are real people with real lives, and it is not our job to destroy them on the internet, regardless of any past transgressions."
Sara, another active subreddit contributor, also commented on the post.
"Thank you for saying all this. I'm ashamed at myself for being so quick to believe this about her," she wrote. "Will definitely use this as a learning experience."
While Sara didn't specifically post anything negative about Cooper online, she told Insider that she remembers upvoting jokes about the reality TV contestant and her "forensic analysis" — and she felt compelled to speak up about her mistake.
"I really felt bad for not scrutinizing the evidence. Even though I didn't lead an anti-Jenna hate brigade, I was walking around just assuming the worst of her," she told Insider. "I really do try to scrutinize most media I consume, but I applied a lower standard to reporting about '
In the future, Sara says, she plans to be more discerning.
"I'm definitely going to be wary of any evidence that can be faked, or isn't supported by statements that the contestants themselves have made," she explained. "I think the biggest lesson for me has been that we truly don't know any of these people."
The question remains, will this moment of accountability lead to a shift in how the fan forum conducts itself in the future?
While "Bachelor" fans and contestants alike seem to be hoping for a change in the culture online, many are wary to label the subreddit's apologies as permanent progress.
Reddit user sendmehotcheetos says she has noticed a shift in behavior online, although she can't be sure that the changes will last.
"Comments continuing to perpetuate rumors about other contestants are usually shut down with reminders of what happened to Jenna," she explained. "I just worry that this effect will wear off over time, especially with the exponential growth of this sub recently. Hopefully, there will be enough of us who remember and can keep things in check if things start to revert back to how they were before."
Sara, however, is less optimistic.
"Honestly, [the apologetic posts online] are a bit performative. I also apply that to myself," she said. "I think people were chastened for a day, and the next day, went right back to talking crap about contestants they feel like don't deserve the benefit of the doubt."
Carbone is also doubtful that the saga imparted any long-term lessons.
"I guess we won't know until the next thing happens. It's like, actions speak louder than words," he said. "We'll see if they really back up their words on that. I don't think they will."
Jacqueline Trumbull, Cooper's friend and fellow "Bachelor" contestant, also fell victim to false information circulating on Reddit in 2018 (she even had to contact the moderators to prove that posts accusing her of "bad behavior" at Burning Man were false). While she was pleased to find out about the subreddit's new guidelines, she says, she's skeptical that one incident will change the culture of online fandoms.
"I think it's terrific that the subreddit is trying to amend things and even change some of their rules. This ordeal may temper reactions because people might realize that
Ultimately, she says it's a "tall order" to expect lasting change, but she remains hopeful.
Despite enduring an emotionally taxing year, Cooper is choosing to focus on her future.
Part of the reason the 30-year-old decided to finally clear the air, she says, is because she and her boyfriend, Karl Hudson IV, are expecting a daughter in May.
"Being pregnant changed my mindset on everything," she explained. "I didn't want my family to go through this anymore. And I wanted to show my daughter how to stand up for herself and be empowered."
Now that the rumors have been debunked, things are looking up.
"I think I just feel like I can breathe again," she said," and hold my head up a little bit higher."
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