20-05-2025
Emilie Kiser's son Trigg's death shows how little privacy influencers get
Emilie Kiser's son Trigg's death shows how little privacy influencers get
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Emilie Kiser's millions of social media followers were sending her prayers regarding a drowning incident involving a 3-year-old boy days before police confirmed it was her son.
On May 18, the 26-year-old influencer's son, Trigg, died days after he was pulled unconscious from a backyard pool in Chandler, Arizona, Sonu Wasu, Chandler Police Department's public information officer, said in a statement.
Kiser hasn't publicly spoken out since before the accident, which occurred on May 12. However, within hours after 3-year-old Trigg was hospitalized, speculation began to swirl online.
"If the rumor is true about Emilie Kiser I'm actually going to be sick," one person wrote on X on May 15 — days before the child's identity was confirmed.
The tragedy, and the online rumors surrounding it, highlight the lack of privacy influencers have in the modern age.
Internet seemingly connected photo of home to Emilie Kiser
The speculation around Kiser's son all seemingly stemmed from a photo in a local news story.
KPNX 12News, a local television news station based in Phoenix, Arizona, reported on May 12 about the drowning call for the 3-year-old child.
The article was accompanied by photos from outside the home where the incident took place, which quickly sparked online speculation that it involved Kiser's son, according to social media posts.
While Kiser has never shared her address online, some users cross-referenced the image of the home in the story with an earlier real estate listing of the home.
Kiser's TikToks, which show her house in the background, matched closely with the listing's images, leading many to believe the incident happened at her home.
Trigg Kiser dies 3-year-old son of TikTok influencer Emilie Kiser dies after pool incident
'We will be here when you are ready'
In the days that followed, Kiser's name was one of the most searched terms on Google.
A Reddit "snark" page — a social media feed where people closely track the online activities of influencers, according to Columbia Journalism Review — that monitored Kiser was also made private until further notice "out of respect for the family."
The 26-year-old, who, before this incident posted to social media multiple times per day, hasn't updated her accounts since May 12.
However, in the meantime, her view and follower counts have continued to rise, with her most recent video garnering more than 36 million views as of May 20.
The comments have been flooded with messages of support, even before Kiser's son was confirmed as the child involved.
"We will be here when you are ready, we love you!" one commenter wrote on May 18.
Another from May 17 said, "Literally every comment in here should just be praying. In every aspect."
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Influencers are available 'much more readily than a celebrity,' professor says
Popular influencers, like Kiser, cultivate close connections with their followers through parasocial relationships, which consist of "illusionary interaction between a social media user and an influencer while the social media user consumes the content of the influencer," according to a 2024 study in the International Journal of Advertising.
Parasocial relationships have historically been applied to the attachment fans have toward celebrities.
However, social media influencers offer a go-between to connect with people "much more readily than a celebrity," John Powers, assistant professor of interactive media and design at Quinnipiac University, told USA TODAY.
"The idea is, a social media influencer could be me, so therefore I feel like this person is just your average person who lives in a normal house and lives their lives like I do," Powers said. "But they also lose that separation when they have millions of followers and people who are constantly checking in on them."
Unlike celebrities, though, Powers said influencers have to maintain a balance between their professional life and personal life when both overlap.
"Part of their appeal is that they're normal, and so they want to be inside their home and show your average kitchen or your average living room or your average backyard or whatever it is," Powers said. "Sometimes it may be important to make sure that the information shown is very, very generic."
In cases like Kiser's, when tragedy strikes, Powers said that social media users should remember not everything plays out online.
"That's where I think people get misled — they're invited into her life, but certainly it's her public life. It's her influencer life, and she also has a private life," Powers said. "And I think we as consumers of that kind of connection can sometimes be fooled that we actually are closer than we think."
Trigg Kiser's death is still under investigation, police say
CPD is investigating the circumstances around this case, Wasu said on May 18.
Additional details will not be released until the investigation has closed.
"Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the child's family and loved ones during this unimaginable time," Wasu said.
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at
