- Influencer Brittany Jade Szabo is facing backlash for a TikTok prank she played on her twin sons.
- In the TikTok, Szabo told her sons to "go along" with a fake story about them having a dead brother.
A small YouTuber who runs a family vlogging channel has attracted widespread attention and criticism on social media after posting a TikTok video with her children in which she pretended her twin boys had a brother who died.
The controversial video is no longer available to view but has been reuploaded on social media by various users. It shows mother-of-three Brittany Jade Szabo, who has 2.2 million TikTok followers, sitting with her husband Wyland and two of her children, who are twin boys.
Szabo can be seen telling the twins the family is going to try and "win a trip on a cruise ship" and asked the children to "go along" with the story.
@___mrose #fyp #fypシ #foryou #brittanyjade #brittanyjade___ ♬ original sound - ✨MK✨
Szabo, who used the hashtag #justjokes under her video, said the two boys deserved to win because they had "been through a lot," adding, "When they were born they had a triplet brother, who they lost."
Later in the video, one of the twins can be heard saying, "We don't have a brother," and "What are you talking about?" at which point Szabo said to camera, "They're still in denial."
Szabo can be seen trying to hold back laughter and mimicking crying throughout the video. At the end, she asked the twins to put their arms around each other before saying, "In loving memory of Lawrence. Please Royal Caribbean. Bless these boys on their birthday."
Insider was unable to find a competition that matched Szabo's description, and Royal Caribbean Cruises did not respond to a request for comment.
The video appeared to be part of a TikTok prank trend where people tell a fabricated story to the camera in front of a close friend or family member to see if they'll play along. Still, many TikTokers criticized Szabo's version, saying it was insensitive to those who have lost children.
"This is the girl that so many people idolize?! Someone who jokes about losing children. Open your eyes people," read the caption on one repost of the video from August 31.
@mirandalambert372 She now made a video telling people to delete these videos that she posted and wants everyone to erase this video Im so sorry for all the woman that have lost their babies and had to see this video of what she and her husband did in front of they’re children and saying with lies and laughing about it.. it’s very disturbing and sad I’ll be praying for them #R#ReTokforNatureb#brittanyjaded#disturbings#shockingr#redditc#cancelherB@Brittany Jade ♬ original sound - mirandalambert372
A top comment underneath the video was made by Ophelia Nichols, a TikTok influencer who went viral for posting a video to appeal for information after her son was shot and killed in August.
"And I'm seeing this not even 3 months after losing my son," Nichols wrote, receiving more than 40 replies from users expressing sympathy with her and calling on Szabo to apologize for the prank.
A caption underneath another reposted version of the video called the influencer's actions "disturbing and sad," adding, "I'm so sorry for all the women that have lost their babies and had to see this video of what she and her husband did in front of their children."
A screen recording of Szabo's video was also posted to Reddit on August 31, where it has received 160 comments.
"This was a new low. She crossed a line, and everyone knows it - whether they tell her or not," the top Reddit comment, which has 223 upvotes, said.
Szabo's video is no longer available to view, and a notice on her TikTok and Instagram pages says her accounts have been made private.
According to news website yourtango, Szabo deleted the TikTok after receiving criticism and issued an apology in a subsequent video before making her account private.
The outlet reported that Szabo said she sent personal apologies to people who commented that they were impacted by the prank and added, "We are extremely sorry to those who were hurt, triggered or offended by the context of that video."
Szabo received continued criticism from TikTok users after posting her apology, and in a subsequent video, which has been reposted by other users, she responded to a comment that criticized her apology for being "fake."
"We are human and we make mistakes and we are truly so incredibly sorry," she said before asking people who uploaded her video to take their posts down. "We don't want any more damage to be done to the people, to the moms, who could be triggered by that," she added.
Szabo is known for posting content about her life as a mother, and about her two sons and her daughter, on TikTok and Instagram. She and her husband Wyland run a small family YouTube channel together called The Szabo Zoo, which has 3,200 subscribers, where they post occasional updates about trips the family has been on.
Representatives for the Szabos did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
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