Reality TV star Mikayla Matthews sparks backlash over risky 'stiletto challenge' with newborn

IOL News

2 days ago

"Mormon Wives" star Mikayla Matthews with her husband Jace Terry and four children.
Image: Instagram.
"Mormon Wives" star Mikayla Matthews has come under fire online after posting a video of her attempting Nicki Minaj's viral "stiletto challenge".
The trend is inspired by a pose the rapper does in the music video for her 2013 song "High School", featuring Lil Wayne.
After the pose resurfaced, in just a matter of weeks, more than 100k people have jumped on the gravity-defying stunt, wearing stilettos and balancing on objects with one foot.
In the video posted on her Instagram, Matthews is seen attempting the challenge, but that's not what angered media users.
It was the fact that Matthews included her 2-week-old baby in it.
Mikayla Matthews and her new born baby.
Image: Instagram.
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Advertisement
Next
Stay
Close ✕
Yes! Matthews is seen attempting to balance on one leg atop a step stool in her stilettos, all the while holding her baby in one arm along with a stack of diapers in the other.
Her light-hearted caption read: "How it feels balancing postpartum + 4 kids and being the breadwinner 👀✨," along with a note on her exhaustion only two weeks post-partum: "2 weeks postpartum yesterday and we are a whole new level of TIRED lol😅🙃."
While Matthews might have thought that this was a comical take on motherhood, netizens have expressed outrage over the apparent recklessness she displayed just to keep up with an online trend.
One user commented: "Why does everyone think this is ok … If she fell her newborn would be seriously hurt ... Bizarre behaviour just for the clicks."
Another sarcastic comment highlighted the absurdity: "I love that you are using a newborn as a prop to flex multitasking as a new mom. It's so mature and safe. I hope you get a lot of clicks for your creativity!
"I'm sure you've got the best health insurance possible in case your baby gets squished or tossed if you fell sideways or blacked out suddenly ... You are a beautiful example to mothers everywhere."
A third said, "Don't you care for your baby's safety? She's two weeks old, for G-ds sake. You are more concerned about a trend and likes than your baby. Outrageous!🤬🤬🤬."
Worsening the situation further was the fact that Matthews's co-stars from "Mormon Wives", such as Taylor Frankie Paul, Mayci Neeley and Jessi Ngatikaura, praised her bold take on juggling motherhood and work.
While this trend has recently taken TikTok by storm, with users practising their balancing skills on all sorts of objects, it has caused quite a few mishaps.
Most recently, Mariana Barutkina, a 32-year-old mommy blogger from Russia, became an unexpected cautionary tale.
Just weeks after giving birth, she attempted the challenge, balancing in stilettos on a pot and a canister of baby formula atop her kitchen counter.
The result? The pot slipped, Barutkina toppled backwards, and, suddenly, a fun video turned into a worrying trip to the ER.
Barutkina was diagnosed with a T9 compression fracture, a break in the ninth thoracic vertebra of her spine.