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07th Oct 2015

Celebrity blogger sparks major media frenzy after shower selfie with son

Trine Jensen-Burke

Well-known US celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has come under attack this week after he posted a selfie of himself taking a shower with his 2-year-old son.

The image, posted to the blogger’s (who’s real name is Mario Lavandeira) Instagram account Monday, is showing himself and little Mario Jr. grinning widely inside a shower cubicle. The feel-good family snap was captioned: “Our family motto is: #fun! We try and incorporate fun into as much of the everyday things we do! #Bathtime.”

But as can be expected in the area of widespread wi-fi and keyboard warriors, it didn’t take very long for reactions to come pouring in. And not all of the pleasant variety. Some took to social media with comments suggesting the scenario is ‘kinda creepy’ and ‘odd’, prompting Perez to reply to one comment, saying: “I had my bathing suit on, and I didn’t feel the need to clarify that in the caption.”

The image debacle was even discussed on ITV’s This Morning yesterday, where mother-of-one and journalist Sonia Poulton claimed Hilton to be ignorant to post the picture showing his child in the shower because paedophiles can view it.

She also blasted the celebrity blogger for posting the image because she argued ‘who asked the child’ for permission.

Host of the popular morning program, Philip Schofield, accused Poulton of being ‘hysterical’ and said the picture only shows the child’s head.

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Poulton argued it was the fact the picture was posted online which troubled her, not the fact that a father took a shower with his toddler son. “The picture is not right, it’s completely wrong and it displays a level of ignorance.”

“Agony aunt” Denise Robertson, who also took part in the debate, disagreed and called the picture ‘totally innocuous.’

She said: “It’s lovely that he’s doing that with his child and I don’t see anything in that picture that could offend any reasonable human being. If this brings forward a sensible conversation about how we handle this [posting online], he’ll have done us a favor.”

Hilton, who often post pictures of his two young children to his social media accounts, issued the following comment to DailyMail.com following the program: “Everyone does what they see fit as a parent. Personally, I enjoy putting on my swim trunks and taking a shower with my son as often as possible. I’d rather do that than leave him unattended, which will not happen until he’s older and I’m confident he can be safe alone.”

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What images you should and should not post of your children online continues to be a vast and important debate, and there is no doubt that it is more important than ever to exercise caution and care when it comes to posting pictures to social media.

What do YOU think about Hilton’s picture? His shower selfie is no doubt a fun and sweet glimpse into a happy and healthy home-life, but should pictures like these make their way online, or be kept for his family’s eyes only? Please e-mail me your thoughts at Trine.Jensen@HerFamily.ie.