A number of spiteful billboards went up in Los Angeles and Minnesota on Tuesday morning in response to Monday night’s controversial episode of The Bachelor.
The show ended with bachelor Arie Luyendyk Jr. changing his mind at the last minute. After choosing, and even formally proposing to 27-year-old contestant Becca Kufrin, the former race car driver had a sudden change of heart. He explained to producers in a pre-recorded segment that he wanted to call off his wedding to Kufrin and pursue 25-year-old contestant Lauren Burnham.
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Viewers across the country were put off by Luyendyk’s last minute indecision, but the vitriol was especially strong in L.A., and in Kufrin’s home state of Minnesota. A total of 16 billboards were rented to post angry messages at Luyendyk for all the world to see.
“Arie… Not okay, just leave. – Everone,” read the billboards.
Man, you really gotta loathe a guy to pay for SIXTEEN billboards that hate on him. #TheBachelorFinale https://t.co/rUmhlMW3QM pic.twitter.com/koNsjG5IUF
— Lynette Rice (@Lynetterice) March 6, 2018
Two of these were rented along the Interstate 710 Freeway in East Los Angeles, and two more were on the Interstate 5 Freeway near Orange County. A spokesman for the billboard company, Outfront Media, told Entertainment Weekly that that’s all they had available. Otherwise, who knows how many billboards to buyer would have paid for.
The other twelve billboards were in Minnesota, where residents were distraught to see their native daughter jilted so publicly. Fans were made uncomfortably by the drawn out scene of Luyendyk breaking the news to Kufrin. The contestant tried to evade the cameras and find a quiet place to process the information, but they followed her around her apartment incessantly.
The drama is not over yet, as the multi-part finale of The Bachelor continues on Tuesday night on ABC.
