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Celebrities
Harriet Brewis
Jun 10, 2021
Social media has been divided over the recent ‘mum-shaming’ of the model
emrata/Instagram
Emily Ratajkowski has suffered a torrent of abuse across social media, with scores of users questioning her parenting skills.
It kicked off when the new mum and model, 30, was accused of holding her son “like a sack of potatoes”, after posting a snap while on holiday in Turks and Caicos.
Piers Morgan was among the swarm to lay into her over the photo, tweeting: "That’s not how you hold a baby @emrata – and your millions of followers shouldn’t be encouraged to do the same.”
The criticism has since continued, with Instagram users quick to call out her latest posts on the platform.
In one video reel, marking the model’s birthday, she can be seen sipping wine on the beach, before a later clip shows her breast-feeding son Sylvester Apollo Bear.
The montage sparked comments from sceptical viewers, with one writing: “Hope you weren’t breastfeeding after having alcohol."
Others quipped that she had been treating her child as an “accessory”.
One wrote: “At least you didn’t neglect your child and use it as a photo prop today.”
While another snidely asked: “Learn how to hold a baby yet?”
Ratajowski was forced to remove the comments from the earlier picture of her posing with Sylvester following the fierce online backlash.
Concerned viewers suggested she wasn’t holding the infant correctly by apparently failing to support his head and neck.
Morgan’s take on the image racked up more than 2,000 retweets and 9,000 likes, with fellow Twitter users sharply divided over his assessment – and whether he had any right to give it.
Some defended the model against the father-of-four and his offer to give her “tips” on how to carry a child:
@piersmorgan @emrata What a world we live in... Moving onto parent shaming now? Why do we have such an obsession on… https://t.co/W1b90fLHNa— Andy Gillies (@Andy Gillies) 1623082502
@piersmorgan @emrata -finds the one photo of how she holds her baby and makes comments about her parenting.. -inste… https://t.co/FuDs3gmXA9— Bee Edwards (@Bee Edwards) 1623085271
@piersmorgan @emrata If you were that concerned about the baby, why not reach out to @emrata privately and offer yo… https://t.co/gwvpnxaUrs— Kassa (@Kassa) 1623086311
@piersmorgan @emrata The child isn’t 3 weeks old he’s 3 month old, have you ever had a child & they have tried to l… https://t.co/8fdVUlVJuT— SopHie (@SopHie) 1623154679
However, others reinforced his concerns:
Not a fan of Piers Morgan but he has 100% reasoning to question this, this is not how to hold a baby 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️ https://t.co/ixKdJ1CJbE— Em (@Em) 1623231219
Let's be real, he's not actually shaming a young woman {surprisingly} but pointing out this isn't how you hold a ba… https://t.co/7qDGe25nLb— Emilia (@Emilia) 1623228908
TBF… Regardless of whoever they are, which I have no idea, that's really not a proper way to hold a baby. https://t.co/aSwBetx54R— Ed (@Ed) 1623158889
This poor child. That’s not safe for his neck, and she doesn’t seem to even acknowledge his existence. I dearly ho… https://t.co/NHx7zFzCbZ— Bob Cantelon (@Bob Cantelon) 1623229714
The comments are everyone telling Piers to mind his business and maybe it’s for a photo shoot, leave women alone et… https://t.co/ZCfe1fCF1S— Deck. (@Deck.) 1623136847
Morgan later defended his stance, writing: "If she chooses to use her baby as a prop to promote [herself] to 27 million people on Instagram, and she’s holding that baby in a dangerous way, it’s actually the duty of any caring human being to tell her so the baby comes to no harm."