Influencer and former “The Bachelor” contestant Anna Redman has apologized for an Auschwitz outfit planning gaffe. (Screenshot via Reddit; Photo by Paul Archuleta, Getty Images; Design by Jackie Hajdenberg)

(JTA) — Anna Redman, a social media influencer and former contestant on reality dating show The Bachelor, has apologized for posting a “flippant” Instagram story sharing her planned outfit for a visit to Auschwitz.

“I’m severely sorry for any pain I caused when sharing my packing notes story,” Redman wrote in her apology, which she posted July 12. “I understand how flippant it came off…. I understand that [sic] heaviness of visiting Auschwitz and have been planning accordingly since we added seeing it in our travel plans. Again, I’m very sorry and took it down as soon as I understood that [sic] gravity of the mistake I made. I had no ill intentions behind it AT ALL. And I hope you guys can understand that.”

In the Instagram story posted the day before, which disappeared like all such posts after 24 hours, Redman shared a screen recording of her “packing notes” and the outfits she planned to wear on an upcoming trip to Poland and other countries. It included photos of herself wearing them, with their corresponding dates and locations.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

For July 16 “auschwitz am,” Redman, 28, shared to her 114,000 followers that she was set to wear a short black dress and white sandals.

The text, written in pink lettering and highlighted in pink, said: “The best packing ‘hack’,” followed by “Is somebody going to match my freak?” referring to the lyrics from “Nasty,” by Tinashe — a popular song on the charts and on TikTok.

Fans and viewers reacting to the post across Reddit, Instagram and X called it “insane,” “terrible” and “bizarre.”

“‘Is somebody gonna match my freak’ and turn a deadly concentration camp into a runway,” X user Bingeing Bravo wrote, followed by an upside-down smiling emoji and a crying emoji.

“She posted her Auschwitz outfit inspo. Like it’s [New York Fashion Week] and not a concentration camp where so many people suffered and died,” one user wrote in a channel for discussions about The Bachelor on Reddit. “It made her look dumb. I don’t think she had malicious intent but it’s not cool to be so ignorant. She made herself look goofy. I don’t think she meant to offend but it’s a pattern now for tourists to not respect concentration camps and people are getting sick of it.”

Others offered examples of tourists acting inappropriately at Auschwitz or Holocaust memorial site. In 2017, Israeli-German writer Shahak Shapira began compiling photos of people taking selfies at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin in a project meant to criticize the trivialization of the site.

The Auschwitz museum’s web site cautions visitors to show “the appropriate solemnity and respect” for the one million people killed there during the Holocaust.

Redman has since limited comments on her Instagram posts. She did not respond to JTA’s request for comment.

Last month, Redman shared she was heading to Poland with boyfriend Chris Bukowski (who appeared on a separate Bachelor franchise show) and his family, with additional plans to visit Vienna and Rome. Bukowski is of Polish descent.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount