Jenny Mollen Sparks Backlash Over Instagram Photos With 12-Year-Old Son
Actress and writer Jenny Mollen has had a tough few weeks. She and husband, actor Jason Biggs, announced their separation on May 14. As if ending an 18-year marriage wasn't challenging enough, the mom of two is now facing a major parenting backlash from critics over photos of herself in bed with 12-year-old son, Sid.
On May 25, Mollen shared two pics of herself intertwined with her son, accompanied by the now-deleted caption, according to an Instagram community note: "Your eldest son will be the most toxic guy you ever date." Mollen has since removed the statement from her post, leaving only the pictures and 4,000-plus comments.
What are people saying about Jenny Mollen's Instagram post?
Cue the backlash. Obviously, people had a lot to say about Mollen's post. One commenter wrote, "Hugging your kids: Healthy and encouraged. Calling your child your boyfriend and posting photos of you lying between their legs on a bed: Not healthy or encouraged. Your child is not your boyfriend. A boyfriend is a romantic partner," while others added, "My son is almost 12 and is very attached and snuggly, but girl this is weird? This will be on the internet forever," and "Would people be okay if this were a father and daughter? It's weird."
While the photos drew criticism, it was the removal of the caption that seemed to fuel the backlash, with commenters writing. "If you stand by what you said, why remove your original caption? That tells me you know it's not appropriate. Remember, anything you put on the internet never goes away. Lots of people took screens shots of the original" and, "Now all the comments are confused because you bait and switched the original caption." Another commenter added, "In case anyone is wondering, it was the original comment she put with this post that was really what rubbed people the wrong way."
Even though most of the comments found fault with Mollen's photos and original caption, other parents came to her defense: "Standing with you. I could text him a love letter about how proud I am of him wishing him the best day ever and he will always reply with…"ok"." and, "My 18 year old son just graduated high school, you are NOT wrong…They don't get the mother-son bond, obviously."
Of course, the comments defending Mollen didn't go unnoticed, with statements such as "The number of comments in here defending this is wild to me" adding fuel to the fire.
The back and forth continued, as another commenter replied, "Stop this! I still don't understand why anyone feels entitled to judge a picture when they're neither the people in it nor inside their minds to know the intent behind it. You're making assumptions about a moment you know nothing about."
As of now, Mollen has not responded to the post or issued a public statement about the controversy.
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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 12:31 PM.