'Bachelor' Contestant Maquel Cooper Apologizes for 'Racist' Photo

The Bachelor has another racism scandal on its hands!

Maquel Cooper, a contestant on this season of the ABC dating show, has come under fire after an old photo of her and friends wearing brownface makeup and mustaches while posing as "Mexicans" resurfaced.

A Reddit user posted a throwback photo of Cooper and two friends from her Instagram account with a caption that read, "Maquelle, maybe before considering yourself a 'public figure' on instagram, look back at your old posts to make sure you don't come across as a racist."

The photo, uploaded to the Utah native's account in 2012 and since deleted, was captioned, "Insane night. #tbt #marco #jose @louie #ugly #pranknight #bff #mexicans #baileywoolley #reesehigbee."

Fans were quick to point out the racial insensitivity in the photo.

One Reddit user wrote, "Wowwwww. She clearly sees zero problems with appropriating Mexican culture and mocking Mexican people. How is she that oblivious? And how did the producers not notice that s--- and say something before all of us found it," adding, "It just seems sooo sloppy to me and I'm seriously not sure how it's still up there. I just don't understand how that first picture made it past the customary social media scrub, even if it's 5 years old lol. Like, even if the producers aren't inclined to give a s---, I feel like one of her friends or someoneshould have pointed out how f---d up it was."

Another compared Cooper to former Bachelorette contestant Lee Garrett, whose offensive 2015 and 2016 comments calling Black Lives Matter a terrorist group and comparing the NAACP to the KKK surfaced after he was cast in Rachel Lindsay's season.

In a statement to TV Guide, Cooper apologized, saying, "Five years ago, I made a regretful choice for a costume. It came at a time when I was unenlightened and uninformed. I apologize to anybody who was offended by my choices. I am sorry for what I did and take full responsibility for my mistake."

The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin