Jenny Mollen has been criticised after sharing Instagram photos of herself lying on top of her 12-year-old son, Sid, with a caption that many found inappropriate. The 47-year-old author, who shares two children with ex-husband Jason Biggs, posted images of the pair embracing on a bed, with their faces pressed together and Sid's arms and legs wrapped around his mother.
The since-deleted caption read: 'Your eldest son will be the most toxic guy you ever date.' Critics flooded the comments, with one writing: 'Saw the original post with the original caption. Super weird. And I have boys the same age. And yes, we hug and cuddle, but that caption was creepy AF.' Another added: 'Hugging your kids: Healthy and encouraged. Calling your child your boyfriend and posting photos of you lying between their legs on a bed: Not healthy or encouraged.'
Mollen addressed the backlash on her Instagram Story, saying she was 'shocked' by the response. She wrote: '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. ... A photo of me hugging my 12-year-old child is getting ridiculed.' She added that people wouldn't understand the caption 'unless you have a son that makes you do things that you would never, ever, ever do for another man.'
The posts came days after Mollen announced her split from Biggs after 18 years of marriage. The couple also share an eight-year-old son, Lazlo. Following the breakup, Mollen wrote in a Substack essay that she was planning a trip to Italy, referencing the memoir 'Eat, Pray, Love' but clarifying she was not going to 'find myself or sleep with some beautiful Italian stranger.'
