The hosts of “The Unplanned Podcast” probably didn’t plan on this.

Matt and Abby Howard, a couple who spend their lives as social media influencers, found themselves under a harsh spotlight recently when a post Abby published during a cruise ship vacation gave many readers the impression they left their two toddlers alone in a cabin simply to enjoy some time by themselves.

The Howards have been scrambling to deal with the fallout since.

In video post published Tuesday, they attempted to reassure viewers that their children were their highest priority.

And that the boys, aged 2 and 1, were under watchful eyes the whole time.

Parenting issues are always a hot-button matter on social media, and the prospect of children facing danger under any circumstances, but especially when it’s due to parental neglect, outrages many people instinctively — regardless of whether they’re actually parents.

So the controversy shouldn’t be a surprise.

Abby and Matt Howard break silence after being slammed for their ‘morally unacceptable’ parenting act on a cruise ship https://t.co/U7nuwwT7Cq pic.twitter.com/Tad1RURzma

— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) September 17, 2024

The uproar began when Abby indicated in an Instagram post that the couple were dining on the cruise and watching their children via Facetime because the baby monitors didn’t “work on board” the ship, according to the New York Post.

That led many viewers to think that the two had left their toddler sons, ages 2 and 1, unattended while they ate out.

“People started to speculate and believe that we had left our children alone in their staterooms and that is just completely untrue, because we had someone with our children at all times on the boat, period,” Matt said in the video.

Abby said she could understand how her words had been misinterpreted, and that’s why she deleted the offending post.

The couple imply — without actually stating outright — that the children were under the care of relatives, since Abby’s “extended family” was along for the trip.

Some comments on the Tuesday post supported the couple, but some showed that the outrage continues.

“Normally when you trust someone so much to watch your children you don’t need a monitor to double check … so I def believe that’s a liez,” one user wrote.

According to needlessly snarky coverage in New York magazine’s The Cut, Matt and Abby — agest 26 and 25 — now live outside of Phoenix, Arizona, but have roots in the Midwest. Matt is from Missouri, Abby is from Illinois.

They met when they were in an eighth-grade theater camp in St. Louis, Missouri, and became sweethearts while attending different high schools.

They both graduated from the University of Missouri and launched their marriage, and their influencer careers amid the coronavirus pandemic.

According to The Cut, it was Abby’s second pregnancy, which came apparently came as a surprise, that gave the Howards’ “The Unplanned Podcast” its name.

The couple has more than 5 million followers on TikTok, according to the New York Post, and more than 7 million YouTube subscribers.

Story Editor

Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.