Fil-Am social media influencer appears on Playboy digital cover

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino-American social media personality Bretman “Da Baddest” Rock has landed on the cover of Playboy magazine’s digital edition this month, making history as the first openly gay man to appear on the cover.

Playboy magazine posted on its social media accounts the photos and video with Rock donning the iconic Playboy bunny suit photographed by Brian Ziff.

“For Playboy to have a male on the cover is a huge deal for the LGBT community, for my brown people community and it’s all so surreal. A total ‘is this even f*****g happening right now?’ type of vibe. And I’m so pretty,” Rock told Playboy.

In a Twitter thread, the American men’s magazine explained the reason for featuring the 23-year-old content creator. Playboy has received “a lot of great comments, but far too many offensive ones as well” since posting Rock as their cover model.

The magazine also recalled they had received the “same kind of comments” when they put African-American Darine Stern on the cover in 1971, featured transgender model Tula Cossey in 1991 and fought for abortion rights and cannabis law reform in the 1970s.

Previous international personalities who appeared on Playboy’s cover include Kate Moss, Dolly Parton and Kylie Jenner.

Born in the Philippines, Rock is now based in Honolulu, Hawaii where he does viral beauty tutorials and entertainment vlogs.

He launched his own YouTube channel in 2015.