Backlash for TikTok Mom Who Told Twin Sons a Fake Story of Dead Sibling To Win a Cruise

A popular TikTok mom has received backlash after pranking her twin boys with a fake story about their dead sibling so that they could win a free cruise.

Brittany Jade Szabo, 33, told her sons they would share a story on TikTok for the Royal Caribbean cruise contest. She said they could use the free cruise for the twin boys' birthday, but the actual purpose of the prank was to see if her twins, Levi and Cove, would also go along with the lie.

The mother then narrated her story for the contest alongside her husband, Wyland Szabo. As the seven-year-old twins listened, the parents revealed that they were actually triplets, but they lost the third child, Lawrence, at a young age.

Brittany and Wyland continued with the ruse and said that the twins miss their deceased brother so much. At this point, one of the bewildered twins cut off his parents and said in the video that they do not have a third sibling.

Trying to hold back her laughter, the mother didn't acknowledge what her son said and instead mentioned that he was still in denial about the death. Frustrated, the twins again interrupted their parents and clarified what they had heard. They could not go along with the lie and forgot about the contest, per The Sun.

Brittany Jade disappointed her followers

Shortly after posting the prank, the TikTok mom's followers went off in the comments section. They were in disbelief that she forced her twins to come up with a lie about a fake tragedy.

Prank trends about fabricating stories to see if a family member will go along with it are all over TikTok. However, many of Brittany's followers said she was being insensitive not only to her children but also to those who have lost their babies, according to Insider.

One of her disappointed followers even reuploaded the prank video with the screen capture of the outraged comments, citing that the influencer, idolized by so many people, made a joke in bad taste.

@___mrose #fyp #fypシ #foryou #brittanyjade #brittanyjade___ ♬ original sound - MK

Brittany's controversy was also a hot topic on Reddit, where the commenters said that the mom reached a new low and crossed the line. Some believe that the companies supporting her motivational talks about overcoming drug addiction should consider dropping her.

"It's bad enough she would joke about something like this, but she included her own children in the gag," a Redditor said.

Brittany Jade issues an apology

The TikTok mom was forced to delete the prank video after less than 20 minutes and replaced this with an apology. She said sorry to those who were "hurt, triggered and offended" by the context of the prank. The mom conceded that it was a mistake she and her husband would have to learn from.

However, the fans were unwilling to accept Brittany's apology and even criticized her for her fake tears. As the backlash grew, Brittany turned her TikTok and Instagram accounts to private, per HITC. It's still unclear if the TikTok mom will revive her social media accounts or if she has lost her product endorsements.