Ben Rathbun shocked viewers during the 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days Tell-All part 1 with his shocking animal analogy, and few viewers are accepting his apology. The former paster called out Kimberly Menzies backstage for pursuing Usman "Sojaboy" Umar, as Ben claimed that men enjoyed hunting women like lions preying on gazelles. Viewers were equal parts horrified and angry that Ben compared women to helpless prey and insisted that women shouldn't openly pursue men since it is "fun" when they make things a challenge. hough Ben has since publicly apologized to Kimberly, very few 90 Day Fiancé franchise fans think his apology is genuine.
Despite being three decades her senior, Ben spent the season pursuing a relationship with 22-year-old Peruvian woman Mahogany Roca. Mahogany was hesitant to tell Ben any truths about her life after he hunted her down in Peru despite her asking him not to visit her. Ben was labeled creepy by fans, though many are now calling him a predator after he referred to Kimberly as one. Ben has since issued an Instagram Story apology to Kimberly that saw him calling his comments "patronizing, misogynistic, and hurtful." Though Ben claimed he had already privately spoken with Kimberly, he also let the public know that he regretted his creepy discussion with her.
Reddit user hampsteronawheel8 shared Ben's Instagram apology to Kimberly in a thread. Few commenters were impressed with Ben's lengthy post, as they thought it reflected him trying to improve his reputation rather than show genuine remorse for what he said. "I’m sorry, I can’t take the apology seriously when it has the hashtag #takingaccountability," one top commenter pointed out. "When I saw that, I realized [sic] he was just taking the least damage route to proving mahog wrong about never taking accountability," another user wrote back. Many commenters agreed that Ben's hashtags, including "#takingaccountability," "Beforethe90days," and "forgiveness," diminished the impact of his apology and the chance of it being genuine.
Multiple users questioned why Ben, who feels 25-years-old, made his apology public, as it appeared he was seeking attention and redemption among angry viewers. "Translation: I already apologized to you privately but now I gotta try and save my ass with the fans so I can continue to creep on the kiddies," one user wrote. "My first thought was that it is appropriate because if you insult someone in public, you have to apologize in public. But seeing how it’s Ben, you may well be right," another commenter wrote back. Many viewers thought that Ben's apology was "damage control." He doesn't appear to show any remorse for his actions and is consistently justifying his creepy behavior onscreen. "This apology is for optics. It is performative in response to being called out as a creepy stalker. I do not believe a word of it," another viewer weighed in.
Before the 90 Days season 5 has created many villains, but fans are particularly angry with Ben and Mike Berk. Ben turned out to be more creepy and predatory than the previews suggested. Many viewers are also deeply concerned with the fact that Ben uses his faith to try and convince himself, Mahogany, and viewers that it is acceptable to chase after someone his daughter's age and not interested in him. Meanwhile, Mike shattered his nice-guy reputation by lashing out at Ximena Morales Cuellar after she broke up with him. Many 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days viewers believe that the two American men should not appear in future franchise content.
Source: u/hampsteronawheel8/Reddit