Society’s advancements have erased a lot of parental worries about our babies’ safety, such as dying from preventable diseases in early childhood, but we’ve also created new fears.

One of these is the exposure of our babies to strangers through the internet and to celebrities (many of whom had already shown concerns about public attention to their kids even before the internet was really a factor) that must be amplified to an incredible degree.

As a bonus, the internet has also broadened access for strangers to offer unsolicited advice and opinions, which can be distressing even with the best of intentions.

Halle Bailey, Her Ex-Husband DDG, & Their Son Halo

Actress Halle Bailey, best known for her role as Ariel in Disney’s live-action version of The Little Mermaid, has a son, Halo, who is almost one year old. She and her ex, rapper and YouTuber DDG (short for Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr), appear to have a pretty positive co-parenting relationship overall.

However, this week an incident between the two got a lot of publicity, and put Halo in the spotlight.

DDG took Halo on a Twitch livestream with Kai Cenat, another YouTuber who also had an appearance in the 2023 movie Goodburger 2. And, to be clear, this is a fellow with quite a little bit of reach — last year he broke Twitch’s subscriber record, according to Bloomberg, when he passed 300 thousand subscribers.

Most of us would get a little, well, twitchy, if someone showed our kid to 300k people without our permission or foreknowledge, and Bailey did get a little upset. In fact, she says it was far more — millions of people. Uproxx reports that her initial post read:

“hi everyone. just so you know i am out of town and i don’t approve of my baby being on a stream tonight. i wasn’t told or notified and i am extremely upset to have my baby in front of millions of people. i am his mother and protector and saddened that i wasn’t notified especially when i am out of town.”

The Backlash Was Massive & Severe — But The Coparents Stood Together

People were so angry that Bailey would have feelings (and air them publicly) about her son appearing on a livestream without her awareness, that she ended up deleting her social media accounts.

DDG stepped up, though. He published a video on his YouTube channel telling people to lay off. Among other things, he said that the former couple is going through “a difficult transition” and that, as a man, he realizes he may not fully understand how the situation affects Halle mentally. Whatever the case, he said he won’t put up with people hating on the mother of his child. He said:

“Halo needs her, you know, I need her. We need each other, to create a childhood that’s safe, and fun, and memorable for him. And Halo is the biggest blessing in my life…I don’t remember what life was like before Halo and I wouldn’t have him if it wasn’t for Hallie, and for that reason alone, I got unconditional love and respect for her that nobody can really change.”

He explained that they’ve only been parents for ten months, and are also going through a separation, and he doesn’t appreciate people taking sides and trying to pit Halo’s two parents against one another.

Halle has also made a public statement, reappearing on Twitter with a post saying she overreacted and trusts DDG to keep their son safe.

She added that she doesn’t like “finding out with the rest of the world” what her son is doing.

That Hasn’t Stopped The Opinions & Advice Rolling In, Naturally

Responses on Halle’s post and DDG’s YouTube include a lot of praise for both parents and a lot of dissent for the conclusions they’ve clearly reached together.

People are telling Halle that she didn’t overreact and that it was wrong for DDG to air their son without her permission. One person advised DDG to start a vlog with the baby. Many praised his maturity for his response.

Columnist Panama Jackson wrote for The Grio, expressing his opinion about “the younger generation” and navigating co-parenting, and honestly, a lot of his advice (which he describes as unsolicited) is pretty much spot-on. He said:

“To DDG, I’d tell him to give Bailey a heads-up if their son is about to be all over everybody’s videos. Maybe he doesn’t have to, but a heads-up to mom (or dad) about the super-public spaces your kids will be, especially when they’re so little, goes a long way in making the other parent feel comfortable…For Bailey, I’d suggest taking a breather before posting. Implying that DDG shared their kid with millions of people when she has three million MORE followers on IG (still deleted, for now) than he does is wild.”

He says that he imagines the two had a phone call that “started tense but ended amicably,” about the situation.

What Can The Rest Of Us Take From This, Both As Parents & Media Consumers?

Jackson’s advice is decent for everyone, especially those of us co-parenting after a divorce or separation.

Unless there’s a divorce decree declaring it, or sometimes in the case of foster kids, parents don’t (legally speaking) need anyone’s permission, including the other parent’s, to post about their kids. We do see, though, that kids who grew up online are now speaking out and expressing discomfort with the effects on their privacy and well-being.

What DDG did wasn’t on the level of turning himself into an influencer with his kid as regular content, and for most of us, our posts will never reach that level, either. Still, what we’re learning from former “content kids” suggests that we should be cautious about this, and that applies especially if your social media has a larger-than-average reach.

DDG’s follow-up was a masterclass in co-parenting. If every co-parent showed that level of respect for their ex’s feelings (even if after the fact), then just about every child of divorced parents would be better off, and family court judges would breathe a sigh of relief.

We don’t know if Halle attempted to talk to him privately first, but we do know that she went public with her frustrations. Again, there’s no legal bar to that, and people have the right to express their feelings.

But if we’re talking about keeping a positive relationship for our babies, then absolutely, holding off on the public criticism and admitting it if you mess up should probably be the goal.

The Most Important Thing To Take From The Whole Fiasco

From the inside, maybe Bailey saw her ex making risky choices with their child. To DDG, maybe it looked like his ex being controlling and nitpicky. Certainly, those seem to be the images some of their fans saw.

What should be visible to everyone is that both were thinking about their baby. DDG did a live stream, and he kept his baby with him, whether to show him off or because he didn’t want to leave Halo in a playpen in another room, or just because he liked holding his son. Halle heard about it and thought about the potential effect on her child. DDG jumped to defend the mother of his child. Halle publicly acknowledged the discrepancy between her feelings in that moment and her genuine beliefs about her child’s safety.

And maybe that’s why the ending was so positive—because both parents prioritized the child’s well-being over their own feelings about the other parent’s actions.