A YouTuber is under fire for forcing her 9-year-old son to “act like he’s crying” over their dying dog while trying to get a thumbnail for her video.
Jordan Cheyenne, 30, a California-based ex-YouTuber has received a wave of criticism from her subscribers. In a now-deleted video titled “We are heartbroken,” she apparently forgot to edit out the part where she’s actually coaching her devastated 9-year-old son to cry for the thumbnail.
this is so DISTURBING what is wrong with mom vloggers omfg pic.twitter.com/krUjM5Sfit
— elle woods ♿︎ 24 (@artangeIII) September 8, 2021
The footage in question appeared in a video where Cheyenne tells her viewers that her family’s new puppy had been diagnosed with parvovirus and may not survive. Both she and her son were crying in the clip, triggered by the overwhelming fact they may lose their beloved pet. But as it seems, only the child’s tears were genuine.
As Daily Mail notes, at the end of the video, in a part that Cheyenne was probably intending to cut out, she can be seen telling her son how to pose for the camera as he sobbed. At one point, she can be heard telling him: “Act like you’re crying,” as she pulls him into her chest.
Meanwhile, the boy repeatedly tries to tell his mother: “I am crying. I am actually seriously crying.”
After facing severe backlash, Cheyenne deleted her YouTube channel, claiming she did it to focus on her son’s “health and wellbeing.”
In a statement to Insider, the 30-year-old social media personality said:
“Getting completely offline, canceling all videos and monetization, and prioritizing my child are all I care about. I’m disgusted and horrified at what I did and there is absolutely no excuse. It’s terrible on so many levels. I love my child more than anything and will regret this moment forever.”
To Cheyenne’s distress, before she deleted the video, it was reuploaded on other social media platforms. She later posted an apology clip claiming how “immensely disappointed” she was in herself, but it was also removed after she deleted her YouTube channel.
In the apology video, the mother explains:
“In the ending of the video, I was so emotionally worn out… I had Christian on my shoulder and I was like ‘come pose for the thumbnail with me’ after the video… I shouldn’t have done that.”
Opening up about the hateful comments she had received over the disturbing clip, she adds:
“Me trying to get that thumbnail was just so wrong and such poor judgment of me, but that doesn’t condone bullying and harassment.”
Cheyenne’s video deeply concerned social media users about the morality of parenting vlogs in general.
That video of Jordan Cheyenne forcing her son to be on camera when he was upset about their puppy possibly not making it is DISGUSTING. No child should be treated like that and then she blames it on being “emotionally exhausted”. Okay well clearly your son is too ma’am
— Katelyn 🏳️🌈 (@KatelynSue_) September 10, 2021
Jordan Cheyenne apology was such a joke, its the definition of sorry I got caught rather then any recognition of the harm she caused her child. Never once did she apologize to her son or recognize how harmful that behavior was. Just embrassed and should have known better…
— Sarah (@TTamsinn) September 10, 2021
Jordan Cheyenne was forcing her kid to make a yt thumbnail while he was still clearly distressed. Im not sure what the news was on her vid, but she was far more worried about making thumbnail than her kid’s wellbeing pic.twitter.com/pjPPAaWPtx
— willowlillyy 🌸 (@callaLiEli) September 10, 2021
Nevertheless, the cruel reality of parenting vlogs doesn’t begin with Cheyenne’s video.
Back in 2017, Mike and Heather Martin, who were famous YouTubers at the time, lost custody of two of their children after playing “cruel pranks” on them. Some of the unacceptable jokes they tried to pull out were telling one child he was adopted, smashing his Xbox with a hammer, and pretending that he would be left home while the rest of his family went to Disney World.
Last year, Ruby and Kevin Franke were accused of child abuse after their son, 15, said they had forced him to sleep on a bean bag for months as punishment for pranking his brother.
Here’s a video by YouTuber AngusTheDuck summarizing Cheyenne’s alarming situation:
What do you think of Cheyenne using her son to get a clickbait thumbnail? Do you believe some parents on YouTube might be ungenuine? Let us know in the comment section!
