Kaitlyn Bristowe is defending herself after tossing away her engagement ring in a new dance video.
Bristowe, 38, took to Instagram on Wednesday, October 25, to share a clip of herself and two other dancers performing to “Flawless” by Beyoncé. “Put on the captions for a reason,” she added in the caption.
Lyrics from the song’s spoken word intro flashed on the screen as she danced in the studio. “Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage. I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important,” says writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Bristowe wore a white blazer and coordinating shorts in the video, completing her look with black combat boots and fishnet tights. As the song referenced diamonds, Bristowe approached the camera and showed off her left hand. She dramatically removed her engagement ring, throwing it on the ground.
While some fans accused her of throwing shade at Jason Tartick, Bristowe asserted in an Instagram Story video that she wasn’t trying to diss her ex-fiancé.
“I just want to say a couple things. I feel like a lot of you are missing the point … and it’s almost like it’s proving my point,” she said on Wednesday. “That video was not meant to throw stones, fire shots, be mean to a specific person.”
Bristowe explained that she intended to send a message about “empowerment,” adding, “Women take the heat so much worse than men,” before sharing her own experience with criticism in the public eye. “I literally get comments all the time that I’m 38, I should be married or should have done this and my time is running out … I have so many big feelings and I think sometimes I have a hard time articulating them,” she said.
The former Bachelorette noted that she likes to “do things through dance or music” to process her emotions. “I have a hard time with what’s going on in [my head] and in [my heart], getting it out there,” she added. “But the people that matter know my intentions.”
After trying to “make it very clear” that she was not aiming her dance at Tartick, 35, Bristowe acknowledged that she can be “a messy person and that’s OK.” In a subsequent video, she argued that apologizing was “going against” the message of her choreographed dance. “I’m apologizing for standing up for what I believe in,” she said, addressing the “societal pressures” put on women. “I wish we could all just hug right now.”
Bristowe and Tartick announced via Instagram in August that they ended their engagement after four years together, telling their followers in a joint statement, “Our care and admiration for one another will never die.” One month later, Bristowe alleged her ex “didn’t protect” her from backlash surrounding their breakup.
“We really agreed on protecting each other,” she said on her “Off the Vine” podcast, discussing the issues she had with Tartick’s video of himself moving out of the pair’s home. “When he was, kind of, leaning into that sad — I was like, ‘Bro.’ It didn’t protect me because it made me look like I was taking the dogs away from him.”
The duo share Ramen and Pinot, and Bristowe reminded fans that she and Tartick planned to spend equal time with their pets post-split. “The messages I got after that were just … I didn’t know it was going to be that bad of what people were saying to me,” she continued.
Us later confirmed Bristowe unfollowed Tartick on the app.
