When it comes to motherhood, Jenny Mollen won’t apologize for her love language, even if it gets lost in translation.
The actress and estranged wife of actor Jason Biggs is stirring controversy on social media after sharing a pair of affectionate photos with her eldest son, Sid.
The candid snap, shared in a May 25 Instagram post, shows Mollen, 47, and Sid, 12, wrapped in a tight embrace while lying down on a bed. The mother-son pair’s faces were obscured as they nuzzled against each other.
In the second photo, Mollen could be seen lying on top of Sid as he cradled his mother’s face in his arms. “Your eldest will be the most toxic [boyfriend] you ever have,” Mollen wrote in the post’s original caption.
The photos quickly drew backlash online, with many commenters criticizing Mollen for her level of physical affection with her son. The “Crazy, Stupid, Love” actress later deleted the post’s caption but doubled down on her remarks in a May 26 comment: “I stand by this!”
Mollen’s stance on her parental PDA echoes a May 10 essay on her Substack profile, which described the actress’s anxiety about her son growing up and navigating romantic relationships. In one anecdote, Mollen said she “complained” to Biggs about a girl Sid was talking to at the time, remarking that her son’s love interest was “my brand of toxic” and “wasn’t even hotter than me.”
Mollen continued to earn criticism as the photo set circulated on social media. The post has racked up over 1,000 comments, as of publication.
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“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,” Instagram user @havebookswilltravel wrote on Sunday, May 31. “Your child is not your boyfriend. A boyfriend is a romantic partner.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Mollen’s representatives for comment.
Mollen’s controversy comes about a month after she revealed her separation from longtime husband Jason Biggs. The former couple shares two children, sons Sid and Lazlo, 8.
In a May 14 statement to USA TODAY, a representative for Mollen and Biggs said the pair is “on great terms and remain focused on raising their two boys.”
Mollen reflected on the emotional complications of her post-marriage life in a May 25 newsletter on her Substack.
“When you’re young and ambitious, or maybe just middle-aged with ADHD, it feels impossible to appreciate anything while you’re in it,” Mollen wrote. “The highest highs of my life have all hit like pennies disappearing into a bottomless well.”
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Jenny Mollen criticized for ‘weird’ photos with son
Several commenters, many of them fellow mothers, slammed Mollen for her affectionate photos with son Sid.
“I have five boys ages 11 [to] 2. We cuddle, we snuggle and wrestle. They love to cuddle mom,” @raisingthem_wild wrote on Instagram. “Do we lay like this? HELL no. Do I make references to dating them? Absolutely not. [What] even is that? This is why people say boy moms are weird.”
“As a single mom with a boy, this is setting off five-alarm bells!” @marvinalovich commented. “Our boys are our sons, not our companions. LEAVE THEM SPACE TO BE.”
“My son is almost 12 and is very attached and snuggly, but girl, this is weird???” @lorazepamhalpert wrote. “This will be on the internet forever. Think about how your son will feel about this in a few years.”
Jenny Mollen, right, and then-husband Jason Biggs, left, pose with son Sid Biggs while attending the Cinema Society screening of Disney’s “Moana” at Metrograph in New York City on Nov. 20, 2016.
However, some users came to Mollen’s defense, describing the actress’s behavior as a normal gesture of parental love.
“This is adorable! [I] have two boys, 9 and 11, and this is how we sleep every night, lol,” @jillnicolini commented. “Intertwined and hugging, it’s beautiful!”
“I think most emotionally mature people understand that she is basically showing motherly affection to her son, and she thought it was funny and innocent to post,” @mikematrix21 wrote. “Obviously, social media has to weigh in, but I am confident that the majority of people understand her true intentions.”
Contributing: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jason Biggs ex Jenny Mollen criticized for affectionate photo with son
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