Promotional Poster // Hulu
By: Sam Simons
Media Writer
On Feb. 27, Hulu released a new docuseries called “Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke.” It uncovers the bombshell case of former mom influencer and now convicted child abuser Ruby Franke through never-before-seen clips and interviews from Ruby’s estranged husband and two eldest children. While there are only three episodes, the series covers a lot of ground.
Based in Utah, Franke created a YouTube channel called “8 Passengers” where she posted daily content of her six children’s lives. The channel gained a massive following; however, over time, fans began to notice Franke’s strict and sometimes harsh parenting and called her out.
Specifically, Franke was under fire for refusing to bring her six-year-old daughter lunch; she said the child was responsible for bringing her own lunch to school, and that since she had forgotten, she needed to live with the consequences. Later on, she took away her eldest son’s bed as a punishment, and he was forced to sleep on a bean bag for several months.
Things really took a turn when the family got involved with “professional family therapist” Jodi Hildebrandt, who ran a counseling group called ConneXions. Hildebrandt ended up moving into the Franke household and insisted that Ruby’s husband Kevin move out and cut off contract with his family in order to work on his “selfishness”. In August 2023, the worst news of all came out, after Franke’s youngest son escaped from Franke and Hildebratn’s house and found a neighbor to call the police. In the house, officials discovered that the boy and his younger sister, the two youngest children in the Franke family, were being severely abused and deliberately malnourished by Hildebrant and Franke.
Hildebrant and Franke were arrested for child abuse.
The Hulu series explores how Franke created the “8 Passengers” channel in the pursuit of becoming “America’s mom.” The channel also centered around the family’s involvement in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (also called the Mormon church), and Franke strived to be a missionary through her family content. But, as her channel grew, her obsession with maintaining that perfect image also grew – no matter what it took.
Through clips that never made it to the published videos, Franke’s verbal abuse toward her children is revealed. For instance, in one clip, she is talking to her eldest son Chad about where his name came from, but urges him to be more talkative and to fake being happy to get the shot she desires. The clip also shows her yelling and getting angry that there was background noise. Franke’s eldest daughter, Shari, described that their house felt like a set, and that she and her siblings were employees.
The series raises questions about husband and father Kevin Franke’s involvement. His wife is scapegoated, specifically by him – but as the other parent responsible for the children’s welfare, why is he getting off squeaky clean?
While Kevin Franke wasn’t living with Ruby and Hildebrant in August 2023, he was present when it came to parenting his children. When Ruby took away her son’s bed as a punishment or refused to bring a lunch to her daughter, her husband stood by those decisions.
However, it has been pointed out that because Chad and Shari accept him, then everyone else should accept him too. But are they just trying to forge a relationship because he is their father?
As a whole, the Franke case raises serious moral and ethical concerns about family channels and content that features kids. Now, some family-focused content has moved in a positive direction by blurring children’s faces, protecting private information and spreading more positive, realistic messages about family life. Some also argue that these videos create a digital library of memories for the family.
While that may seem wholesome, the key factor is that the majority of these “mommy vloggers” – as internet users have semi-sarcastically dubbed them – profit from these recordings. These “family memories” often show their children going through very private things like potty training, puberty and vulnerable moments, because that’s what gets them clicks, ad revenue and brand deals. Because these parents often don’t have any talents of their own, they make a career out of exploiting their kids – most of whom will never see any of the money from their content, despite having essentially never-ending work hours. (Hello, child labor laws?)
At this point, it’s like, has there ever been a family vlogging channel that hasn’t made people concerned? Even more importantly, can there be? The case of Ruby Franke unfortunately isn’t the first mommy blogger gone wrong, but it can be the last. There are many family channels out there, and we certainly don’t want to see another case like this come out. As viewers, we get to choose who benefits from our attention. If you see something alarming, don’t let it go unnoticed.