A Momfluencer's Son Drowned. Now Other Parents Are Rethinking How Much They Share Online
On Sunday, three-year-old Trigg Kiser died following a drowning incident. According to local NBC affiliate 12 News, authorities responded to a call in Chandler, Arizona where they found the boy unconscious after being pulled out of a pool. The child was airlifted to Phoenix Children's Hospital. The circumstances of the drowning are unknown; an investigation is underway. 'Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the child's family and loved ones during this unimaginable time,' said Chandler Police spokesperson Sonu Wasu in a statement.
Trigg was the son of Emilie Kiser, a 26-year-old Arizona-based mom and beauty influencer who has 3.6 million TikTok followers and 1.4 million Instagram followers. (Neither Kiser nor her representatives have issued a statement, and didn't respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment.) When the drowning incident happened on May 12, it was reported on local Arizona news channels and the outside of the house was shown. Viewers recognized it as belonging to Kiser. Almost immediately, TikTok was ablaze with rumors that the boy who had drowned was Kiser's son. People posted videos comparing footage from the news report to Zillow listings of Kaiser's house, insisting that the boy who drowned must have been her son. There were tearful videos where creators prayed for Trigg's wellbeing and others where people redoubled their investigative efforts to prove that Trigg was the boy who had drowned. TikTok creators pointed to the fact that Kiser (and many of her close friends who are also influencers) hadn't posted in days.
More from Rolling Stone
RFK Jr. and Republicans Are Dismantling a Health Achievement: Fluoride in Water
Mexican Beauty Influencer Shot and Killed on TikTok Live
The Baby Tax: Trump's Tariffs Are an Assault on New Parents
Kiser is among the most popular mom creators on TikTok and has welcomed millions of fans into her family's life. Trigg was a regular staple in Kiser's content, as Emilie showed footage of her getting the young boy ready for the day, playing with him, or putting him down for a nap. Through her daily vlogs, viewers came to feel that they knew her. More than that, some of them felt they loved her — and loved her children. This isn't uncommon for parasocial relationships, which are defined as one-way relationships fans develop with celebrities or influencers. The ones viewers form with mom creators can be particularly intense, according to Jess Rauchberg, an assistant professor of communication technologies at Seton Hall University. 'She's walking you through her life. It's super intimate. It feels like you're spending the morning with your best friend,' Rauchberg says.
On Monday, news reports confirmed that Trigg had died. Seemingly instantaneously, online sleuths dug for proof of the boy's passing, even going as far as posting screenshots from the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner confirming his death. That didn't surprise Brandon Harris, a professor of social media analytics and production at the University of Alabama who studies parasocial relationships. 'For better or worse, these content creators are public figures and celebrities at this point,' he says. 'We can debate the limit of what the expectation of privacy should be but they have primarily made their wealth by making their lives accessible to other people.' And fans seem to expect that access even in the wake of unimaginable tragedy.
There was also an outpouring of grief on social media, as viewers and fans struggled to understand the death of a boy with whom they had formed such a parasocial bond. They had watched Trigg grow up, their videos and captions lamented, and now he was gone. Creators posted videos of themselves sobbing onto the camera. One video with hundreds of thousands of views offered the Kiser family a place to stay if they wanted to leave Arizona. Another account, which has now been deleted, posed as Emilie posting a tribute to her late son. 'Social media collapses the distance between viewers and the person on the other side of the screen. The tragedy becomes so much more than just a family's grief or a community's grief when millions of people are now grieving with you,' Rauchberg says. 'And that's not always a good thing. We don't actually know this family.'
Alongside the expressions of grief, creators and commenters threw blame and accusations. They insisted Emilie and her husband, Brady, should be charged with child neglect. An unsubstantiated rumor that Emilie refused to have a pool fence installed because it wasn't aesthetically pleasing has been often repeated. People zoomed into old videos of Kiser's, trying to prove that she did or didn't have safety measures in place. They looked through her content, trying to pinpoint where she was when the drowning incident occurred. Had she been home? Was she out? Was she at fault or was her husband? In a video viewed over 200,000 times, a creator who goes by @neurodivergent_nate said, 'this is parental neglect. You're the parent and you need to be protecting them. And you failed.'
The TikTok videos addressing the Kaiser family tragedy largely fall into two categories: grieving Trigg or blaming his parents for his death. The intensity of the reactions leave Rauchberg wondering whether the intense parasocial reaction to Trigg's death may change the culture of parents sharing content about their kids online. 'Let's say I'm an influencer and, God forbid, something happens to my kid, do I want people making content about my child and getting views and clicks and likes because my child died?'
Losing a child is a tragedy; losing a child in front of millions of people who think they know is a dystopian nightmare – and it's making mom influencers rethink what they're sharing online. One mom creator posted a TikTok of herself overlaid with the words, 'Anyone else questioning how much of their life they share online after seeing Emilie Kiser get ripped apart by the internet?' In another video, a creator who posts about being a mom in law school said, 'I just want you guys to know this will be the last public video from me. The things that I've seen after someone going through the worst thing imaginable are vile and disgusting and I don't wanna share my life. I don't wanna share my kids.' Rolling Stone reached out to this creator, who said she had nothing to add to what she said in the video.
A mom creator who has hundreds of thousands of followers, and requested to remain anonymous because of possible backlash, tells Rolling Stone that she was stunned by the lack of sensitivity of viewers and fans. 'People watch creators on the internet and they don't realize that they're real people with real lives and real families outside of what they see on the internet,' she says.
Because of the response to the Kiser family tragedy, this creator is taking a break from posting on social media and is even debating quitting altogether despite the benefits from an influencing career. 'Having a following can be a creative outlet and a monetary blessing for sure, but the cost is your privacy and your peace. No amount of money is worth that. The money you can make from social media is not worth this. Everything that happens to you, good or bad, will be dissected by the internet. Nothing is worth your privacy and your peace.'
Best of Rolling Stone
Every Super Bowl Halftime Show, Ranked From Worst to Best
The United States of Weed
Gaming Levels Up
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
NC governor vetoes permit-less concealed carry, ICE cooperation
June 21 (UPI) -- North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein vetoed a bill to require state law enforcement to work more closely with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in addition to another that would allow permit-less concealed carry of firearms. The Democratic governor on Friday announced vetoes of the legislation, which had been approved by both legislative chambers. Stein said the state is already stretched to assist federal officers. "My oath of office requires that I uphold the Constitution of the United States," Stein said. "Therefore, I cannot sign this bill because it would require sheriffs to unconstitutionally detain people for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. He noted the federeal Fourth Circuit "is clear that local law enforcement officers cannot keep people in custody solely based on a suspected immigration violation." Stein said he also wants offenders to be held accountable. "Let me be clear, anyone who commits a serious crime in North Carolina must be prosecuted and held accountable regardless of their immigration status." He said he supports the bills' efforts to require sheriffs to contact federal immigration authorities about people in their custody charged with dangerous crimes, including sexual battery, armed robbery, arson, assault on public officials and court personnel. The vetoes were supported by Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers, Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough and Mecklenburg County Sheriff Gary McFadden. Republicans blasted the decision by the governor, who was elected in November. "Gov. Stein proved where his allegiances are," state Senate Leader Phil Berger posted on X. "He'd rather prioritize his far-left donors and their dangerous open-border policies over the citizens of North Carolina who are desperately pleading for us to put an end to the illegal immigration crisis. I look forward to the Senate overriding his veto." Stein also vetoed a bill that would have allowed permitless concealed carry in North Carolina. "This bill makes North Carolinians less safe and undermines responsible gun ownership," Stein said. "The bill eliminates training requirements associated with concealed carry permits and reduces the age to carry a concealed weapon from 21 to 18 years old. "We can and should protect the right to bear arms without recklessly endangering law enforcement officers and our people." Berger criticized the veto of this bill. "Law-abiding North Carolinians shouldn't have to jump through hoops to effectively exercise their Second Amendment rights," the Senate leader said. "It's past time for us to join the majority of states that recognize Constitutional Carry. I look forward to the Senate overriding Gov. Stein's veto." To override a veto, three-fifths of the House and Senate must approve the bills. In the latest election, Democrats broke the Republican supermajority in the House by gaining one seat. The GOP has a one-vote supermajority in the Senate. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
Grieving parents awarded $2.25M after Georgia doctor plastered videos of their decapitated baby on social media
A Georgia couple whose baby was decapacitated during childbirth was awarded a $2.25 million verdict after their pathologist posted graphic autopsy videos on social media without their consent. Dr. Jackson Gates and his Atlanta-based business will have to fork over the large sum to Jessica Ross and Traveon Taylor Sr. after a Fulton County jury found him liable of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and fraud on Wednesday. 'This young couple trusted him with the remains of their precious baby,' attorney's for the grieving parents said, noting that the doctor 'poured salt into the couple's already deep wounds.' 3 Jessica Ross and Treveon Taylor Sr., parents of a baby who was decapitated during childbirth. AP 'Gates, in turn, repaid this trust by posting horrific images of their child for the world to see.' The heartbroken couple hired the twisted doctor to perform an autopsy on their deceased newborn two days after their obstetrician allegedly applied excessive force to the baby's neck when its shoulders became stuck in Ross's pelvic area, causing it to detach during the traumatic July 2023 delivery. 3 The traumatic delivery occurred at Southern Regional Medical Center in July 2023. ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock The baby's head was delivered vaginally, but the rest of the body was removed via C-section. The death was later ruled a homicide. Gates posted numerous videos and photos to his Instagram later that month, showing the grisly postmortem examination of their infants 'decapitated, severed head,' the couple said in their lawsuit. The deranged pathologist initially removed the footage after receiving a letter from the couple's attorney — but later reposted them, according to the lawsuit. 3 The couple was awarded $2.25 million in a lawsuit against their pathologist. AP Gates' attorney, Ira Livant, said his client typically documents his autopsy's on social media to educate fellow pathologists and highlight the importance of independent examinations in cases where families suspect medical misconduct. 'Dr. Gates testified that he is deeply sorry for any harm that he unintentionally caused the plaintiffs,' Livant said Saturday. 'Had he known for one second that they would see that and that they would know it was their child, he would never have done it.' The couple will receive $2 million in compensatory damages and an additional $250,000 in punitive damages from Gates and his company, Medical Diagnostics Choices, per the judgement. The bereaved parents have separate lawsuits pending against the delivering doctor and the Riverdale hospital where the horrific incident took place. With Post wires.
Los Angeles Times
5 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Irvine animal trainer and his girlfriend arrested in connection with death of 10 dogs
An Irvine animal trainer and his girlfriend were arrested Thursday night after police connected the couple to the death of at least 10 dogs — with nine believed to have perished on a single day. Kwong 'Tony' Chun Sit, 53, of Irvine, was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty and destruction of evidence, according to the Irvine Police Department. Sit's girlfriend, Tingfeng Liu, 23, of Vista, was arrested on suspicion of the same charges. Shortly before 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, a pet owner reached out to the Irvine Police Department to report that their dog trainer sent a message saying their dog had died in its sleep and had been cremated, according to a news release. 'The one family reached out to us [and] thought it was kind of suspicious that their healthy dog died with this trainer,' said Kyle Oldoerp, a spokeperson for the Irvine Police Department. The department's Animal Services Unit began investigating and quickly realized it wasn't a single dog. The tally rose to 10, and officials are searching for more potential victims. One dog died last week and was cremated, with the remains now with the family, Oldoerp said. It appears nine other dogs died on or around Wednesday, according to Oldoerp. The deceased dogs were taken to multiple crematoriums and Oldoerp said he believed police were able to retrieve all of their bodies. Irvine police said they are working with veterinary professionals to perform necropsies to determine how the dogs died. 'If they all died of an accidental poisoning, or something that was all the same, then it's like, OK, maybe this is accidental,' Oldoerp said. 'But if it's not, and they're different causes, then that could take us down a different path.' Even if the deaths are determined to be accidental, it doesn't mean the charges will be dropped. Oldoerp likened the situation to a parent endangering a child's welfare by leaving them in a car — without malicious intent. 'He's still responsible for the well-being of these animals,' he said. Oldoerp added that it appears the couple sought to destroy evidence by attempting to cremate the dogs. According to Irvine police, Sit worked throughout Southern California under different company names, including 'Happy K9 Academy.' Owners of dogs that appear to have died while in Sit's care took to Instagram to call for justice for their dogs. Aimee Gutierrez said on Instagram that her family rescued a 9-month-old Belgian Malinois three weeks ago from the pound and named her Saint. According toa Thursday post, they sent Saint to a trainer but were informed by text that she had passed away. 'Saint deserved better,' she wrote. 'She was supposed to come home to a life of love, safety and second chances. I will never stop fighting for her — and for the other animals whose voices were taken away too soon.' Those who have information related to the case or whose dog died in the care of trainer Sit are asked to contact rsteen@
