Jenny Mollen, 46, and Jason Biggs, 48, announced their split about three weeks ago. They’d been married for 18 years and have two sons, a 12 year old named Sid and an eight year old named Lazlo. I guess Jenny wasn’t getting enough attention post-split, because she posted two photos to Instagram and Facebook with Sid in which she’s lying on a bed cuddling with him. She captioned the posts “Your eldest son will be the most toxic guy you ever date.” That’s really awful on a lot of levels. Jenny deleted the Facebook post and removed the caption from Instagram, but her post on Instagram remains up with a community note (image below).
People started pointing out how inappropriate and out-of-bounds this was. In response to all of the well-deserved criticism, Jenny then played the victim and got defensive in her Instagram stories. I’m relying on Today’s reporting here because I ignored most of this story when it broke. Here’s more of what happened, as per Today:
Mollen appeared to address the backlash in a series of Instagram Stories, suggesting that the reaction may be tied, at least in part, to her recent separation from actor Jason Biggs.
“It’s like because I’m getting separated, because I’m not protected by the institution of marriage, I’m suddenly like a different kind of target in what I’m posting. Like this is absolutely jaw-dropping. A photo of me hugging my 12-year-old child is getting ridiculed,” she said, as reported by Entertainment Weekly.
Mollen and Biggs announced their separation after 18 years of marriage In May. The former couple share two sons, Sid, 12, and Lazlo, 8, and have said they remain committed to co-parenting.
“This is absolutely disgusting,” one person wrote on Mollen’s post.
– “What the freak. I hugged my mom and dad a lot but this gave me the ick.”
– “This is a yikes from me, dawg.
– “My son is almost 12 and is very attached and snuggly but girl this is weird??? This will be on the internet forever. Think about how your son will feel about this in a few years.”
– “As a boy mom, I’m deeply appalled.”
– “For anyone defending this. Would you be okay with it if it was a “comedian” dad and his 12 year old daughter??”But not everyone viewed the photos through the same lens. Dr. Deborah Gilboa, a family physician and parenting expert, says the controversy is less about the affectionate moment itself and more about the decision to make it public.
“It’s not at all unhealthy or immoral to cuddle, hug, wrestle or be physically close to your teenage child,” Gilboa tells TODAY.com. “It’s impossible to know from almost any snapshot the before, the after or the feelings involved.”
I understand what Today’s parenting expert is saying and I agree in general. However, Jenny is a minor celebrity and she absolutely knew what she was doing here. Maybe Jenny is spiraling post-split and wanted some attention and headlines, but this is not the way. These photos could haunt this boy for years! I get what she’s saying, that 12-year-olds are hard to deal with and can run hot and cold. That is “toxic” in a way, but it’s a common developmental phase and is in no way comparable to a toxic boyfriend. Social media is not the place to share your stupid thoughts about parenting a tween. You post half-baked ideas like this to your group chat and if they’re good enough friends they’ll give you a reality check.
Whenever I think of this woman I remember her 2011 post about ordering a threesome. Her marriage lasted an improbable 15 years after that! She should know when to call it a day and move on. Instead she’s using her poor son as engagement bait.
Update: Thanks to Becks for pointing out that Mollen has a substack post that really expands on the messed up point she was making in this Instagram caption. She wrote that she wanted her sons to marry women with dead mothers, called her sons “the most emotionally high-maintenance men I’ve ever dated” and went on about a 12-year-old girl that her son Sid was texting, writing “she wasn’t even hotter than me.” We’ve heard that Jenny and Jason broke up because he lost weight, but it looks like their issues run a lot deeper than that.
Photos credit: BFA.com/Backgrid, Robin Platzer/Twin Images/Twin Images/Avalon and via Instagram
