Famed TikTok couple speaks after fans assume they left young kids unattended on cruise

Matt and Abby Howard are one of today’s most well-known TikTok couples.

No stranger to controversy, the couple is currently being slammed on social media after people misunderstood one of Abby’s Instagram stories, believing they left their young boys unattended on a cruise ship.

On her Instagram story, which has since been shared widely on TikTok, Abby wrote that they took their young sons, 2-year-old Griffin and 13-month-old August on a weeklong cruise.

“We ended up taking them for 5 nights,” Abby wrote on her story, “and it became apparent that they weren’t enjoying it and therefore we weren’t either.”

As a result, Abby and Matt made the conscious decision to change their dinner reservations to during their boys’ bedtime.

While the boys slept in the room, Matt and Abby “FaceTimed the monitors while we ate.”

Confident in their decision, Abby boasted, “That worked out muchhhh better for everyone!”

Soon after posting the update, it quickly went viral with thousands of people criticizing Matt and Abby’s decision, assuming they left their young children alone without in-person supervision.

Now, the couple is speaking out for the first time regarding the discourse.

“There is information circling the internet about us that is completely untrue so we just wanted to set the record straight,” the couple began their statement.

“We take our role as parents extremely seriously and we love our children more than anything in the entire world,” Matt continued as Abby sat next to him. “We are very protective of our kids.”

Matt explained that he, Abby and their boys were joined by Abby’s extended family on the cruise. And while they did in fact leave their sleeping children in the room while they ate dinner, Matt said the assumptions that their kids were completely alone is “completely untrue.”

“We had someone with our children at all times on this boat, period,” Matt said.

Abby then took accountability for how she worded her Instagram story, saying, “I can see where my story did lead to misunderstanding which is why I ended up deleting it.”

As Abby continued, she thanked those on the internet who showed so much concern for her kids. “As their parents, that is our first and foremost main concern.”

“But I do want to clarify that we have not, would not, will not ever leave our children unattended,” Abby assured, adding that no matter where they are, if they are sharing a room with their boys or not, they have their baby monitors on.

“That’s why even when we would tag-team and take turns at family dinner, we would turn on FaceTime so we could have eyes on them,” even when another family member was with them physically.