We covered this at the time. Parents, a biological father and a stepmother, have a Youtube channel where they pull “pranks” on their kids, video it, and then upload it for “our enjoyment,” raking in dough in the process. Well, they had their kids taken away.
The video I wrote about was a “disappearing ink” prank where the shrew mother spread ink on the rug in her adopted son’s bedroom and went berserk on him. (Screaming and cursing.) The father joined in and threatened to take all of the kid’s possessions away to pay for the rug.
When another boy chimed in to defend his brother, that kid was swept up in this sadistic wrath. It was painful to watch.
The father has now made the “painful admission” that the videos are “scripted and exaggerated.” He says he would rather lose the revenue the videos garner than his children.
Too late.
Fake or real, you had your kids participate in videos that did nothing but show others that it’s funny or cool to psychologically abuse your kids.
Fake or real, the a-holes are monetizing abusive behavior of children.
I’m not a big fan of Child Protective Services and believe they overreach and intrude on many benign family situations because they get off on the power. In this instance I’m glad they have intervened, if only to send a signal to these youtube jackasses who are pushing the envelope to absurd levels. I’m all for art, performance art and creativity. Leave the kids out of it.
God knows my own childhood household, if observed by an outsider, was very tense at times, but never, ever, in need of government intervention.
My parents, however, didn’t film it and try and put it on television and try to get paid by Proctor and Gamble. Had they done so… that might’ve been a different story. (But back then, Proctor and Gamble would never subsidize such a project. Now?
Side bar:
Let me wrap this up with another mini-rant.
A very large ad agency that sorta rhymes with noodle, which will remain nameless, is currently playing along with the left and blacklisting sites from receiving premium ads. These targeted sites just “happen to be” conservative sites.
Yet, they have no problem running ads on Youtube channels where parents abuse their kids, fake or real.
By the way, if this video is fake, give this Cody kid an Oscar.
I was all pissed off about congress and politics yesterday, then my wife told me about this story and my blood pressure went up and I damn near blew gasket. WTF is wrong with these people?
I didn’t watch the entire video, it sickens me to think anyone would treat a youngster that way….even to ‘prank’ them.
Imagine the hostility if the ink had been real.
Aaaaaaaand were off to therapy for EVER!
It was real enough for the child. He was terrorized. The phuckers should be keelhauled and lashed.
Is pranking small kids really so hard you need to go overboard to do it? Kids fall for the “got your nose” gag for a long time; much more is just cruel and will teach them that nothing is really funny unless it is way over the top.
poor kids will suffer mental problems for years for this-hope they aren’t split up but find a great home for all of them- lock the mom and dad up for child abuse then they each can make a you-tube video about life in jail with bubba and crazy Mary.
Heather and Mike or Dumb and dumber.
I could not get over all the f bombs lobbed at the little boy. Never, ever have I used that word with my children. Come to think of it, I’ve never heard my own mother use it, either. These people are awful.
If your objective is to raise serial killers…
Good!
Now maybe the kids have a shot at a mom and dad who will love them and make them feel safe and secure.
Tired Mom- I agree. I don’t swear around my PARENTS and I’m forty *cough cough* years old! lol
This video is entirely disgusting. Same as that POS crunt woman who threw her small child out of the house to teach him a lesson for voting for Trump. AYFKM?!
I hope these boys, when they become adults, remember this and do everything in their power to become the exact opposite of their ‘parents’.
Oh BTW, that bitch is why the ‘evil stepmom’ stigma still exists.
She is a PR problem for all foster moms and step moms everywhere.
Speaking of asswipe “parents”….wonder what ever happened with the guy that faked his kid flying away in the errant balloon a few years ago where it turned out he had the kid hiding in the attic the whole time?
What a sorry excuse of a Dad.
Shes no prize, just as terrible in her own way, but those are HIS kids!
Fake or not, the dummkopfs used their kids as props for “How to raise deviants, while trying to be infamous on YouTube” instruction video. Maybe, Social Services will do right by those kids, but not holding out hope.
From what I read, only two of the children were removed (the boy in the ink video and his sister) because their biological mother went to court. Of course, it makes you wonder why she lost custody in the first place. This does not bode well for any of these children.
BFH – While I may agree with the rant and sentiment conveyed here, I have to ask: what’s the difference between the Martins and this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIm8HfwnmVE ?
Please don’t take me the wrong way, I am not justifying it. For years Hollywood has profited from the exploitation of children.
My question is in regards to – if the Martins have lost custody of their children then how can the parents of child stars in horror movies be allowed to maintain custody of their children?
Either the Martins have their children returned to them – or – start bringing charges against the parents, directors, producers, and actors for their abuse of children in movies.
@HanoverFist Totally off subject. Mr. Illustr8r is currently in school brushing up on high techie stuff that makes my head hurt. He made a Max Headroom reference and got nuthin’ *crickets* everyone in class including the teacher are too young to know or care (millennials) who that character was. Geez oh Pete.
Max Headroom. Wow… That takes me back.
I saw that “disappearing ink” video. I was on-board for the funny right up until the mother starts cussing her little boy out. Then the father jumped in and did the same.
At that point I’d have been perfectly fine with taking them both out to be shot.
Seriously, that could have been a good prank. Needle the kid for a little while, then let him in on the joke. But what they did – that was fucking brutal. That’s really the best word for it: they brutalized that little boy.
Menotu –
I’m not going to argue that child actors do not have an unusual, and potentially dysfunctional upbringing.
But I disagree that the clip you provided rises to the level of what the Martin’s did.
If you believe that the Martin’s clips are real, then it is abuse. No question about it.
If you believe the clips are fake, they are still being presented as real and influencing jerks that watch, thinking it is cool to try this in real life.
The Hollywood movie is just that, not real.
Kirsten Dunst learned lines and is a safe setting where the action is suspended at regular intervals and the “fake reality” is burst and everyone is okay.
Kids watching this movie, however, can be spooked by it.
But there are books that freaked me out as a kid.
I hated Lord of the Flies. But even though I was effected by the death of Piggy, I knew it was just a story.
Had someone taunted me telling me that the story was true and they were going to send me to that Island, well, that’s Martin territory.
It’s definitely a worthy debate.
Thanks for bringing it up.
I was one of the prbably many tipsters who sent this video in. I said it went from bad to worse. As a father of 3 this was appalling to me. These kids will not come out of this unscathed. I agree with BFH that there is no way these kids were acting. The fact they reacted in such a manner meant they could not discern when it was a “script” or just the normal everyday beat down from Mom and Dad. Those so called parents should be behind bars.
Let me just say, God bless those children, and may he help them recover from this without feeling abandoned. Because as much as losingood your parents can harm a child, being with immature MONSTERS like theirs is far more damaging.
The helplessness, anger, and disgust I felt watching just clips of those so called ‘pranks’, it made me nauseous with worry and it concern. Those poor kids. 🙁
(Also, God bless Phillip Defranco for helping to give this story, and in turn, these children, the exposure needed to get them out of such a hellish situation.)
Can’t watch. Won’t watch.
I hate them both! I didn’t grow up with being pranked, but grew up with psychological abuse and physical as well. Two alcoholics parents where was I going to go. Take these children away and put them in a loving home.
P.S. The egg donor is 94 years old, still as abusive as ever. I haven’t spoke to her or even acknowledged her in 4 years and I never will.
Damn, the worst I ever pranked my kids was to get them to pull my finger.
Some people just need a beatin’.
This is simply a man who has been “radicalized” by the Internet. He makes his living crafting videos and has in the process lost touch with reality. Snot his fault really, Obama ruined the economy, but giving any sentient creature conflicting messages like this is a sure way to create psychosis.
A prank is benign and involves a little teasing and then letting the person in on it. The parents were screaming and shouting obscenities at the children, who were frightened. No way that was a prank–that’s abusive.
And they wonder why their kids are fucked up, stressed,
on drugs, and then kill themselves?
BFH – we agree exactly, if it’s real, abuse and justified removal. And as you said, if it’s staged it is still wrong and influencing crazed psychopaths.
I intentionally submitted a link to a very tame scene from the movie. You will no doubt agree that, if you saw the movie, there was definitely worse material. And most definitely worse being made today.
Did you happen to read any of the comments in the attached YouTube link? Not an issue or deal breaker if you didn’t, as I’m sure you are aware of comments made in other forums regarding female actors, even (and especially) underage ones. With the “Lolita Express”, pizzagate, and other child abuse mass-events, movies are seen in a sense as “hyper-realism” and there are definitely enough crazed psychopaths who won’t care that the child actors were able to take a break in filming to ensure they know it’s just pretend.
Kirsten Dunst was completely able to pull off the “grown woman stuck in a child’s body” and was heralded for it.
You even stated if it’s fake give him an oscar. We are in agreement.
The “movies are fake so no jerks will try to mimic” vs “a YouTube video is fake and jerks will try to imitate it” is a discussion going back years, that was my “whats the difference point”.
As you said, it is a worthy debate. Remember what a lot of the “Joker” victims said when the shooting started in the theater? They thought it was just part of the movie.
We are living in a dangerous society where what is real and what is fake is only separated by a very thin line. And after years of liberals closing the insane asylums and letting the crazies walk among us, there is no difference between movies and faked YouTube videos.
If it’s real, jail the parents.
If it’s not, return the children with a formal and monetary apology.
And an oscar.