Mum deletes YouTube channel and apologises after telling upset son to ‘act like you’re crying’ for video

In the latest “unbelievable” controversy to hit a YouTube creator, a Los Angeles mum has deactivated her channel after she was found forcing her crying son to pose for a video thumbnail.

Jordan Cheyenne, who boasted a channel with more than 530,000 subscribers before it was taken down, released a video on Wednesday titled “We are heartbroken”.

According to the Daily Dot, it came after her puppy was found to have parvovirus, a highly contagious infection that can cause severe illness and death in unvaccinated dogs.

The now-deleted video has since been reposted online, and shows Cheyenne telling her son Christian to “act like you’re crying”.

Christian, clearly upset, replies: “I am crying.”

Cheyenne then proceeds to strike several poses with her crying son, before ending the video. It’s understood that the mum forgot to edit out the footage before uploading it to the social media platform.

Alongside deleting her YouTube channel, Cheyenne has removed her Instagram account. Her Twitter profile, which has been inactive since April, remains online.

Twitter users have since responded to the footage with anger and criticism, describing it as “disturbing” and “disgusting”:

A day after the backlash, Cheyenne appeared on The Dad Challenge Podcast – hosted by Joshua Barbour – and said she was “literally horrified at myself” after watching the footage back.

“I should have taken such a step back in a vulnerable moment and my son was already crying and cries were very genuine. Creating a thumbnail should have been the last thing on my mind and I can’t even watch it back because it’s so cringe.

“I think what’s best for me going forward is to not include Christian in my YouTube content,” she said.

In a statement to the Daily Dot, Cheyenne said she took down her social media profiles because “nothing matters but the health and wellbeing of my child”.

She said: “Getting completely offline, cancelling all my videos and monetisation, and prioritising my child are all I care about. I’m disgusted and horrified at what I did and there is absolutely no excuse. It’s terrible on so many levels.

“I love my child more than anything and will regret this moment forever. I will not be going on any interviews or doing any PR or spending hours commenting on people’s videos about me. The right thing to do is get offline completely and prioritise family.”