A mom went viral on Instagram a few weeks ago after a video started circulating of her hugging her son after he won his high school football game. For weeks, the mom — Amber Wright from Utah — saw hundreds of negative comments flood her Instagram Reel. Now she’s addressing the photo and the comments and telling people to chill out.
Amber shared the reel in August, and a month later it’s still going viral.
In the video posted to Instagram, Amber shared how proud she was of her son, Brix.
“This boy will forever and always have my entire heart. Gina captured the end of this moment, and I’m SO grateful,” Amber wrote along with the video.
“When I walked up to hug my baby boy after his game, he immediately picked me up and just held me. It may have been 20 seconds, 30 seconds, a minute, I have no idea. But in this moment, time stood completely still,” she continued.
“I honestly don’t know what I did to deserve you @brix_wright but I am thankful every second of every single day for you.”
It was a sweet moment of a mom and her son, but that’s not what people online at large felt.
Since the video was posted on August 18, it’s received thousands of comments, more than 9 million views, and thousands of new followers for the single mom. And there was a lot of negativity in the comment section.
People took issue with everything from the hug to the way she’s being held by her son, her outfit, and her social media feed.
“A bit much there Mom…keep your feet on the ground things will be fine,” one person wrote.
“Nothing wrong with the hug but the feet should’ve never left the ground Mama,” someone else shared.
“Come on guys. She’s not like a regular mom she’s a COOL mom,” joked another commenter.
'Mom trying to be a teenager. Skin tight white Pants, camisole top and heels not age appropriate,' someone else wrote.
“Lady look at your kids face he didn’t look like he enjoyed a second of the dry hump. He looks like he’s gonna puke,” another person wrote.
“It’s sad that the attention went directly towards the mom and not her son. Just stole the spotlight right from under him,” added someone else.
Other comments included things like: "What, I thought this was his girlfriend‼️" and "THATS HIS MOTHERRRR?"
There were others who came to the mom’s defense.
“You go mom maybe if more mom where like you we wood have less kids committing crimes,” someone clapped back.
“From one football mom to another, this is such a beautiful moment,” someone else added. “I'm so happy that your friend captured this for you. Please don't let the haters bring you down!”
Another person praised how amazing this mama is. “As a woman who became a widow young with two boys to raise who has never missed a game, band performance, ceremony for whatever whenever and has always been my boys constant…… you don't have to explain anything to anyone,” the person wrote.
The hate kept coming, and both Brix and the mom addressed the comments.
In the comment section, Amber’s 16-year-old son Brix addressed the hate his mom was getting and cleared up that yes, he picked her up.
“Some of you need Jesus,” he wrote. “She’s my mom I did pick her up she didn’t jump on me it was a hug get the f— Over it.”
Amber herself addressed all the hate, too.
“For those who clearly are disturbed and have their minds in the gutter about this video, allow me to offer some clarification,” she wrote. The added the following:
“1. My son PICKED ME UP and this video was captured toward the end; I did not jump on him.
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He and I do have a close and HEALTHY relationship. If you were lose your father to suicide due to alcoholism at the young age of 15, I would hope you would have a mother to be close with.
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My son is a 4.0 student, an athlete, doesn’t drink, doesn’t do drugs and has never been in trouble. Just try to get on my level as a completely single mother, I dare you.
- If you see something wrong with a boy wanting to pick up and hold his mom after a rather intense football game, maybe ask yourself what in the h— is wrong with you that your mind goes there.”
In an interview with ‘Today,’ Amber said she never expected to get so much attention from this video.
“I was so proud,” she told the news program. “I was a proud mom hugging her kid.”
Amber also addressed some of the more sinister comments.
“I never expected it to turn into something where people are like, ‘You’re sexually abusing him! You're grooming him! I’m calling child protective services,” she explained.
The single mom told the news outlet that hugging isn’t weird in her family. And what people are seeing in this photo is just that, plus a son who just had a very emotional football game.
It was her son’s first time wearing a jersey with his late dad’s death date. He died on April 4 of this year.
“He was feeling emotional, and I think as his mom, I’m his safe space,” she shared.
