Influencer couple Matt and Abby Howard became the center of an online controversy after allegedly leaving their children unattended on a cruise.
The pair of social media stars, known for their YouTube and TikTok content, have built a sizable following over the years.
The Howards have over 5.3 million followers on TikTok and another 7.34 million YouTube subscribers. They mostly post daily life vlog content, various musical projects, and hilarious meme videos (which have recently been heavily focused on the two being new parents).
The Matt & Abby Howard Controversy Explained
Accusations are flying as influencers Matt and Abby Howard draw the ire of many online.
The well-known social media couple—who only recently became new parents—is dealing with controversy following their actions on a cruise trip.
This public outcry comes from the Howards' recent vacation, where they revealed they had left their young children Griffin (two years old) and August (one year old) unattended on the massive ship.
Abby Howard posted on a now-expired Instagram Story, telling fans they had left the young kids in their room asleep and that she and her husband were sneaking out for a dinner date and would monitor them from there.
In the post, Howard said, "We ended up taking them for 5 nights and it became apparent that they weren’t enjoying it," so " we switched our dinner time to AFTER their bedtime and FaceTIMED the monitors while we ate":
"So we ended up taking them for 5 nights and it became apparent that they weren’t enjoying it and therefore we weren’t either. So, THEN we switched our dinner time to AFTER their bedtime and FaceTIMED the monitors while we ate. And that worked out muchhhh better for everyone!"
Fans have heavily criticized this move. Many believe the parents were negligent and irresponsible in their actions and that, even though they were monitoring them remotely, the pair would have been too far away to intervene if something had happened.
This is not the first time the pair has been criticized for their parenting styles. Many have called the couple out for publicly involving their two young kids in their fervent social media content creation.
On criticism of their parenting style, Abby Howard previously told fans in a 2023 podcast appearance on actor Taylor Lautner's The Squeeze that she is "comfortable" in her decisions as a parent:
"I am comfortable talking about my parenting decisions. I tell Matt, 'People can tell me I am a bad mom or people can tell me I am a walrus.' I am not a walrus. You are wrong. I feel really thankful for that sense of confidence in that area because otherwise, I feel like I would have been chewed up and spit out. I am okay talking about it."
Despite this, the critiques keep coming, with this cruise fiasco only being the latest talking point for the influencer couple's detractors.
Matt and Abby Howard have removed any mention of the cruise ship trip from their social media accounts. In the wake of this controversy, Abby has carried on with regular social media posts, already sharing unrelated content on her Instagram page without any public apology or addressing the allegations.
Matt and Abby Howard can be followed online on YouTube and TikTok.
