One day you could be living your life, celebrating the pending birth of your child with family and friends and the next, your likeness is being spread across the internet with complete strangers commenting about your life based on a snapshot.
This happened recently when a picture from a baby shower in Chicago, confused the internet and went viral on Facebook. While there was initial shock, some of the comments took a negative turn, and the new mom wasn’t going to let any of it slide.
The image was first shared by the new mom's mother.
In less than a week, the photo, shared on September 23, was reposted over 8,000 times and received over 4,000 reactions, according to Atlanta Black Star. Tangie Newman shared the image of her daughter, Jayla Shykira Jenkins, and her child’s father, Lavell Lundy. The two were posing at their pink-and-blue-themed baby shower. It sounds like a common scene. But it’s the height difference between the two parents that had the internet talking.
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The father stands 6'11", towering over his partner.
Jayla, the owner of Braids by Da Goat salon, appears to be of average height, somewhere over 5 feet tall, but she’s next to Lavell, who is 6’11”. Lavell is a former high school basketball player who graduated from Wells Community Academy in 2020. Tangie, who is about the same height as her daughter, touches Jayla’s baby bump. She captioned the photo, “My baby finna have my baby.”
Many users offered congratulatory remarks but couldn't help commenting on Lavell's height.
The comment section under Tangie’s post were full of well wishes. And then there were those who had to comment on the obvious.
One user wrote: “Congratulations. But damn is that photo shop or one of Shaq’s kids lmbo.”
“Damn shorty 7’10,” someone else offered.
When asked how tall he actually is, Tangie said that on some sports sites, he’s listed as 7’2″.
It wasn't long before Jayla became the victim of online trolls.
Sadly, the internet has a tendency to skew negative. According to Jayla, some people have been commenting on her appearance, speaking negatively. Apparently, she had time to check them in return after she delivered her daughter in the hospital.
In a video that didn’t show her face, Jayla said, “I’m finna eat y’all a– up. It’s so crazy how y’all be on social media.” Lavell encouraged her to ignore the negative comments but Jayla said “not me.” In another Facebook post, she warned the naysayers that she was going to troll them right back.
Thankfully, Jayla has a new baby to distract her from the haters.
Despite all of the negativity, Jayla can be thankful for the arrival of a healthy baby girl the couple named Laila. While the new mom hasn’t shared images of the infant just yet, she did say in one of her videos that she “smells so good” and is “just everything.”
Jayla said that now she’s just waiting for the girl’s color to come in. We’re wondering if the baby will take after her mother or father when it comes to size and stature as she grows.
