Raleigh ‘Bachelor’ star cleared: Blogger admits he was wrong in Jenna Cooper reports
Raleigh’s Jenna Cooper is finally vindicated after a reality TV blogger who accused her of cheating on her boyfriend while starring in ABC’s “Bachelor in Paradise” in 2018, admitted his reporting was wrong.
“It feels amazing to be completely vindicated after all of this time,” Cooper told The News & Observer on Thursday.
It all started when Cooper became engaged to fellow “Paradise” star Jordan Kimball in the season finale episode of the show. Steve Carbone, a blogger known as Reality Steve, who built his following on “spoiling” outcomes of “The Bachelor” and all of its offshoots, broke a story claiming to have incriminating texts between Cooper and another man he called a “sugar daddy.”
The texts proved, he claimed, that Cooper had been in another relationship the whole time she was involved in her on-screen romance with Kimball. Cooper denied the allegations (and even had her phone examined by experts who said the text messages did not come from her phone). But Kimball immediately ended the engagement.
And there was backlash. Cooper, who had been a fan favorite while on Season 22 of “The Bachelor,” was attacked and threatened online. Her reputation was damaged. Lawyers were involved.
The problem: Carbone never named his source for the texts — all of his reporting was based on anonymous tips. But still, many people (Kimball included) believed the blogger, who repeatedly defended his reports.
Blogger: ‘I am sorry for what I did’
But now, Carbone has admitted he was wrong, and he has apologized to Cooper.
In a podcast episode released Thursday, Carbone interviewed Cooper and not only said he was wrong, he removed all of the stories from his website that contained allegations against Cooper.
According to the podcast, and to conversations between Cooper and The News & Observer on Thursday, Cooper reached out to Carbone a few weeks ago, and presented him with evidence of her innocence.
“I finally reached out to Steve Carbone, who originally posted the story, and was able to show him all of the proof I compiled about the people who were involved in creating this smear campaign,” Cooper said. “He showed me most of what had been presented to him, and we compared texts, pictures, emails, et cetera, and he agreed that none of it was true and that the texts were fabricated. He admitted that he was wrong, deleted the posts, and apologized.”
His public apology came on the podcast.
“I am issuing a formal apology,” Reality Steve told Cooper on the podcast. “I am sorry for what I did. I can’t take it back because it’s still out there, since all the media sites picked up on the story and ran with it. But for me this is something I needed to do ... I apologize for not being as thorough with my reporting as I should have.”
During the podcast interview, Cooper explained how she and her mother discovered who was behind the smear through some internet sleuthing. She and Carbone rehash the drama and how it all unfolded.
Cooper also released a statement about this on her Instagram account, recounting how painful it was to be accused and to lose support of those she thought she could trust.
Cooper ended the post with: “So happy to clear my name and move on from all of this!”
Cooper expanded on that in a message to The N&O: “It was devastating to be publicly blamed and bullied for something so awful when I should have been able to enjoy my new engagement. I produced the forensic analysis report proving those texts never came from my phone over a year ago ... but there still seemed to be doubt looming because of gossip blogs, and my ex-fiancé, who instantly dumped me instead of defending me.”
A happy ending for Cooper
To all observers, Cooper seems better off since her separation from the “Bachelor” universe.
Cooper announced on her Instagram account in January that she had fallen in love with Karl Hudson IV, a Raleigh commercial real estate broker and the great grandson of the co-founder of the Hudson Belk company.
One week later, Cooper broke more news on Instagram: She and Hudson are expecting a baby. A gender reveal disclosed that the couple will have a baby girl, due in May.
Cooper told The News & Observer in February that she and Hudson met at a Cameron Village coffee shop on a date set up by a mutual friend.
On Thursday, Cooper said she is eager to put all of the “Bachelor” drama behind her.
“I am excited to move past all of this and focus on the future with Karl, our mini pig Pearl, and of course our baby girl coming in May!” Cooper said. “I plan to continue to shed light on the negative effects of bullying, especially on social media. I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout this nightmare. I know there are much bigger issues going on in the world right now, and my heart breaks for everyone affected. This has just been my little light of positivity, and I hope it inspires others to stand up for themselves.
“The truth always comes out.”
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 5:16 PM.
