Ooooooookay. It’s been quite the day in Bachelor Nation. Honestly, there’s been so much news, if I hear the word “bachelor” one more time, I may go into cardiac arrest. Unfortunately for me, I have to report on this anyway. Probably the biggest news rocking Bachelor Nation right now (do I sound like Chris Harrison?) has been the news that Jenna Cooper may have been on Bachelor in Paradise for the wrong reasons. It’s been a wild ride. So fam, in case you need a refresher: we found out on Tuesday that Jenna is probably lying to Jordan and some other sad man and using both of them for fame, money, and FitTea sponsorships. Then we found out that Jordan didn’t know. AND THEN Jordan broke up with Jenna for the texts. While Jordan went to talk to the media almost immediately, Jenna remained suspiciously silent. Until late yesterday, when Jenna finally responded. She posted this Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bno_IAtj-KR/?hl=en&taken-by=jennacooperfit
She writes, in the caption, “I want to start by saying those texts were completely fabricated, and I never sent them to anyone. I did not cheat on Jordan, and I have nothing to hide. I have been extremely open and vulnerable throughout this whole process. I was looking for love, and I found it. I was excited to share this journey with all of you. I am hurt by these fake texts, and that anyone would believe this story so quickly without proof. I have an attorney helping me investigate this hurtful and fraudulent attack on my character. We are evaluating all legal remedies available to punish those responsible.”
All of us:
Sidenote: Did she crouch down next to a planter for this v awkward pic?
So. We have a lot to unpack. First of all, I am an artist, guys. I make a lot of (by “a lot of”, I mean like, “some”) money from photo retouching. Here’s the thing. If you know Photoshop well—or even took an introductory class in it—fabricating text messages is really, really easy. It’s as simple as copy and pasting new texts in an identical font and cleaning up the edges. It would take me maybe three minutes to create a fake text image, but I’ve been photo retouching for years. Give me 20 minutes and I can make anyone lose 40 pounds and also be Beyoncé.
Me giving myself pretend abs:
That said, it is also a huge pain in the ass to swap words and do the responses in the text bubbles. When the messages go from her text to his, each individual text bubble is a different length and different color. You’d have to match the format exactly for it not to seem “off”. Could it be done? Yes. Is it annoying and will take some time and someone who knows Photoshop really well? Yes. This definitely isn’t just any amateur with a Youtube video.
So could these messages be fabricated? Absolutely. It’s fairly simple to do (especially if Text Message Guy hired someone) and would give this guy a lot of attention or power. But that said, honestly, why would anyone bother? Let’s say they are fake messages, what does this rando truly gain? Maybe Jordan wouldn’t have believed him and he got 15 minutes of fame, but Jenna is engaged anyway. Or okay, he wins, he broke up their engagement. Why would Jenna go back to the guy who f*cked up her engagement and shot at a lifetime of FabFitFun boxes? I just have trouble understanding the motive for this.
Honestly, I don’t think these images were retouched. If they were, they were done perfectly, which is a v specific set of skills. I just don’t see why anyone would take the time to do it. There is no reason to. However, playing multiple guys because you’re a scum-sucking road whore seems very Jenna.
That said, we aren’t done here because Reality Steve said he has verified that these messages are from Jenna. How did he do that exactly? It’s a pretty big claim, especially to someone that has supposedly lawyered up. There are a couple ways to verify the text isn’t Photoshopped. First of all, Steve could have met this guy in person. If he showed the text messages on his actual phone, and then proved they came from Jenna’s number, that would be pretty hard to fake. The guy would also have to have had Jenna’s real phone number, which would be easy for Steve to find and prove was real. If he has the real number, I’m going to say it happened.
Another way to verify is if he sent a video of himself going through his phone step by step to the messages and again Jenna’s number. It isn’t impossible to alter video, but let me tell you, it takes waaaaaay longer, is waaaaaay more annoying, and requires someone who really knows what they are doing. I just don’t see why anyone would go through the trouble of doing this to Jenna. She is not a Kardashian.
The last way that I can think of may not work because the messages are over iMessage, meaning they went through the WiFi instead of their cell service plans. However, had they gone through the plan, text messages can be verified from your service provider. So if Jenna is trying to sue someone, that’s probably the first thing they will check. If they can find them, Jenna is sooooo f*cked.
I’m not done, though. Jenna’s sister has gotten involved in the scandal to defend Jenna.
Jordan is not any of my business. But I am Jenna’s sister and for a million reasons I could tell you why it’s fake, mainly because it’s photoshopped. I’m sorry that everyone was misinformed and I just hope that they will see the truth soon❤ pic.twitter.com/GPjac19XuY
— Makenna (@MakennaCoop) September 12, 2018
I’m not really sure what that circle is indicative of, other than the fact that Jenna’s sister has a sh*tty screenshot.
If you zoom in there is a line along the edge of the text box where a picture was laid on top. If only she was allowed to respond????????♀️
— Makenna (@MakennaCoop) September 12, 2018
Oooh, ok. I sort of see it. I don’t know, though. I feel like that could just as plausibly happen from taking screenshots of screenshots of screenshots, or zooming in too far. Also, let’s not forget the real crime here, which is that Mr. and Mrs. Cooper named their daughters JENNA AND MAKENNA.
All in all, it’s a possibility these texts are made up, but it is way more likely that Jenna is just an awful human. There is just no reason to go through this kind of effort for virtually no benefit besides making Jenna look bad. I’m gonna say they are real and Jenna is a liar.
Also if anyone needs fake text messages or photo retouching to look like Beyoncé, hmu.
Images: Courtesy of ABC; Giphy (3)