‘Rage bait at its finest’: TikTok’s Matt and Abby break silence after cruise ship controversy
After posting an Instagram Story implying they left their two young children alone on a cruise ship, TikTok influencers Matt and Abby Howard have spoken out to explain the situation.
The married couple go by Matt & Abby on TikTok, where they boast over 5 million followers and often share details of their relationship and parenthood experiences. They have two young sons, ages two and under. The Howards have come under scrutiny before, especially when they excused Matt admitting he doesn’t help out with the children or clean the house because they adhere to “traditional” gender roles. Abby has also shared problematic viewpoints, such as claiming divorce is “not an option” for her and criticizing people who go into marriage believing it is an option.
However, their biggest controversy yet broke out several days ago when Abby posted about their cruise vacation. The pair went on a cruise with her extended family and their two sons. In her post, Abby said that the children were giving them a hard time and that her solution was to set their dinner reservations for after bedtime for the kids.
Once the kids were asleep, Abby says they set up a Motorola monitor and FaceTimed the monitor to watch the kids while they went out to dinner. The post seemed to imply that they were leaving the children alone and sharing the monitor setup as a sort of parenting hack for fellow parents. The backlash against the couple was swift, but they are now claiming it was all a misunderstanding.
Matt and Abby Howard deny leaving their kids alone
At first, the Howards appeared to ignore the controversy, as further posts about their trip had limited comments. However, on September 16, they posted a video addressing the allegations. Matt starts the video by stating, “There is information circulating about us that is completely untrue.” He continued to explain that they love their children and take their roles as parents very seriously, and that they wanted to “set the record straight.” Matt explained they were on the trip with Abby’s extended family and could confirm they “had someone with their children at all times” on the boat.
Abby chimed in to acknowledge that she could see where her story led to “misunderstanding” and claimed this is why she eventually deleted it. Additionally, she thanked viewers for being concerned about her children’s well-being. However, she clarified, “We have not, would not, will not ever leave our children unattended.”
As for the monitor situation, they claim they were simply being hypervigilant about their children’s safety. Their kids sleep in “black-out tents,” which have a slot for a monitor to go into, allowing the parents to easily see inside the tent. Whether in the same room or not, they say they always have the monitors on just because they “love to have eyes on them.”
According to them, the situation was the opposite of what they initially implied. Rather than leaving their children alone, they allegedly were utilizing an extra safety precaution while leaving them with family members in the room. Many of their followers have accepted this explanation, with the top comment on their video reading, “I KNEW THERE WAS MORE TO IT!!” Some commenters also took to slamming users who originally expressed concern about the situation, claiming they just wanted to get the couple “canceled” and were looking for things “to be upset about.”
Those who previously made videos about the situation also addressed the situation and indicated they felt reassured that the couple provided some clarity. However, several noted that the explanation still left some lingering questions. Some questioned why they framed the monitors as a parenting hack, if it was just an optional, extra safety precaution they were personally using, or why Abby didn’t just post a follow-up story clarifying the children were with someone.
Some also questioned why the family members in the room wouldn’t be the ones watching the monitor and why the Howards mentioned having to move their dinner time if someone was watching the children anyway.
Some viewers have also proposed the theory that the Howards were purposefully rage-baiting to get attention. They speculate that the couple knew the Instagram Story would spark controversy, which is why they posted it, then waited several days to suddenly come forward saying it didn’t actually happen.
Ultimately, most viewers expressed their hope that the couple’s explanation was genuine. The clarification at least has the potential to dissuade the Howards’ followers from trying to replicate the misunderstood parent hack.
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