Katie Thurston Calls Out Ex-Suitor for Rude Wedding Comment as She Shares Cancer Progress
Zoe Bennett reporting: The facts matter. Here’s what we know so far.
Katie Thurston publicly reprimanded former Bachelorette contestant Cody Menk after he left a demeaning comment on her wedding photos, and she paired the callout with an update that underscores how her life has shifted since her cancer diagnosis. The confrontation played out on Instagram in early August when Menk wrote “Good couple! Both solid 5s” under photos from Thurston’s backyard wedding to Jeff Acuri in March. Thurston reshared a screenshot of the remark to her Instagram Stories on August 6 and wrote that she did not remember him from her season but noted he was “still here lurking” on her page. Menk’s comment has since been deleted and, according to Thurston’s reply on the post, he has been blocked.
These public social media exchanges are grounded in verifiable timelines and public statements. Katie Thurston and Jeff Acuri wed during an intimate ceremony in March 2025, as documented in Thurston’s social feeds. Menk was a contestant on Thurston’s 2021 Bachelorette season and was eliminated in week two, a fact corroborated by show recaps and episode archives. Thurston’s screenshot of Menk’s comment and her Instagram response provide primary-source material for the incident.
Beyond the petty internet moment, Thurston’s life has been dominated this year by her health timeline. She announced a breast cancer diagnosis in February 2025, initially describing it as stage three and later referencing metastatic disease management. In July she shared scan results showing tumor shrinkage, writing that the news brought relief. Her social posts, interviews, and a March Good Morning America appearance form a consistent public record: she found a lump in 2024, pursued imaging and biopsy in early 2025, and received an emotionally devastating diagnosis followed by immediate treatment planning.
That treatment has reshaped her personal decisions. Thurston expedited her wedding plans and entered IVF before starting chemotherapy, decisions she described publicly as urgent and medically necessary. She has been candid about chemotherapy’s cognitive side effects, reporting memory lapses and fatigue that she described in June on Instagram. Those disclosures add context to why she might be particularly sensitive to negative attention online.
Analyzing the broader pattern, Thurston’s callout of Menk serves several functions. It pushes back against public diminishment of a major life event, enforces boundaries on a recently vulnerable public figure, and reclaims narrative control in a period of intense scrutiny. Stonewalling mean-spirited commentary by blocking and reposting the comment as evidence is a strategy public figures increasingly use to document harassment while signaling that they will not accept it.
For Menk, the deleted comment and subsequent block close the loop on this particular skirmish, but the exchange highlights how quickly private grievances can become public stories in reality TV ecosystems. For fans and observers, Thurston’s concurrent health update reframes the incident: a petty social jab becomes a moment that underscores her resilience and the emotional stakes she faces while battling cancer.
Thurston’s online reaction and her health milestones are both documented via her Instagram posts and interviews, creating a public record that anchors this episode in verifiable events rather than rumor. What to watch next: will other Bachelor Nation alumni comment, and will Thurston continue to use public callouts as a tool for setting boundaries during treatment? Stay tuned.
That wraps up today’s analysis. More updates will follow as details emerge.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and E! News, Parade, Good Morning America, Katie Thurston Instagram
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
