Bretman Rock is making history with his appearance on the cover of Playboy magazine's October 2021 digital issue. The 23-year-old Filipino influencer slayed in the iconic Playboy bunny suit — complete with ears, a bustier and neck tie.
“Just for Playboy to have a male on the cover is a huge deal for the LGBT community, for my brown people community, it’s surreal,” Rock said in a quote shared on Playboy’s Twitter. “Like ‘is this even f—king happening right now? type of vibe. And I’m so pretty. So yea, everything happens for a reason and it proves that I’m a big ass witch. Weird flex but okay.”
On Friday, he shared photos of the groundbreaking cover with his millions of fans. “I’m a @playboy bunny DUHHHHHH,” he wrote, adding a bunny emoji.
I’m a @playboy bunny 🐰 DUHHHHHH pic.twitter.com/qMw5u5hbzy
— BretmanRock’s Year (@bretmanrock) October 1, 2021
Rock — who has gained nearly 18 million followers on Instagram, more than 13 million on TikTok, and almost 9 million on YouTube — is also the star of his own reality show, “MTV Following: Bretman Rock.”
While most of the comments about the photo shoot have been positive, Playboy said that there have been “far too many offensive ones as well.”
Nevertheless, the legendary publication spoke out on Twitter, standing by the decision to feature Rock’s cover.
“These are the same kind of comments Playboy received when we put Darine Stern, an African American woman, on the cover in 1971, when we featured transgender model Tula Cossey in 1991 and when we found for abortion rights before Roe v. Wade and cannabis law reform in the 1970s,” the publication wrote.
Last week, we released our first-ever cover with an openly gay model, @bretmanrock. Since posting, we've received a lot of great comments, but far too many offensive ones as well.
— Playboy (@Playboy) October 4, 2021
“Standing for freedom and equality is in the DNA of this brand. Today, Playboy is much more than a magazine,” the magazine continued. “Our digital covers are creative snapshots that drive and reflect the current dialogue around pleasure, sexuality, equality and culture. If a gay man feels sexy in a bunny costume, an iconic symbol of sexiness, why shouldn’t he be able to wear it proudly? Serving as a platform for representation and freedom of expression is and will always be what Playboy stands for.”
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