Reality television personality Terra Jole's husband, Joe Gnoffo, fired back at trolls who shamed their 5-year-old son for wearing his mom's dress.
On January 30, Jole, who is known for reality shows Little Women: LA and Dancing With the Stars shared a home video of her curious son, Grayson, playing dress-up and wearing her heels inside her closet.
"The first day you try heels," wrote the 41-year-old star in her Instagram caption, adding:
"Fun fact about Grayson. One of his favorite things to do is try on my clothes/ shoes. It’s a mess, but a mess that won’t hurt anyone or leave permanent marks on the walls, etc."
In the clip, the playful youngster wore his mom's sleeveless, pink dress and supported himself by the closet doorway as he slid into a pair of mom's black heels.
A text overlay read, "This is my son acting out my first time in heels. 100%."
Reactions were mostly positive, with one commenting, "This is me in heels and I'm 30🤦🏽♀️🤣" and another writing, "thank you for letting kids be KIDS!"
But a few trolls crashed the thread with spiteful reactions.
One called her son's antics, "Unnecessary!" while another simply asked, “Why though?”
The video was also enough for one user to cancel Jole.
@terrajole/Instagram
One individual suggested the boy playing dress-up would have damaging effects in the long run.
"I totally get a kid doing this and I get thinking it’s cute and wanting to video it but why post it for the whole world to see?"
"Say if when he’s older it makes him really self-conscious and embarrassed? And then say if that leads to anxiety and depression? Might want to think about those things before you just post something to seem like the cool mom."
@terrajole/Instagram
And another suggested heels were "for girls and not boys" and that it was "definitely a cause for concern."
@terrajole/Instagram
This person had a serious concern.
@terrajole/Instagram
It didn't take long to hear what Gnoffo had to say about all the riffraff, especially after the following comment about appropriate footwear for boys.
One user named Jewel Johnson–who claims she's "a People Person-Period!" and she loves "God, my family and people genuinely"–suggested Grayson needs to "put on dad's boots."
@terrajole/Instagram
Gnoffo countered by relaying a "message" from his son after telling him about the "dad's boots" comment.
"I told him u said put on dads boots and he told me to tell u this 🖕," he wrote, adding, "I'm just the messenger 🤷♂️."
@terrajole/Instagram
When a supporter indicated Johnson "loves god"–as indicated on her profile–Gnoffo replied:
"Always fascinated me the most judgmental A holes will more often then not have GOD LOVING in their profile 😝 😂"
Fans of Jole also were also quick to defend the couple.
Some suggested they ignore the rude comments and others even commended their little one for maintaining his balance with aplomb.
@terrajole/Instagram
@terrajole/Instagram
@terrajole/Instagram
@terrajole/Instagram
@terrajole/Instagram
@terrajole/Instagram
@terrajole/Instagram
@terrajole/Instagram
@terrajole/Instagram
@terrajole/Instagram
@terrajole/Instagram
You do you, Grayson.
You got this!
@mehcadbrooks/Threads