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Add The New York Post on Google The mother of the two young girls at the center of the viral women’s restroom confrontation said she’s heartbroken that her daughters have become internet fodder — and felt their father “handled the situation well,” but accused him of exploiting them for attention.
Zoe Lavely, the mother of the girls featured in Tyler Brodsky’s widely shared TikTok video, broke her silence in a lengthy Facebook post this week, saying she has been devastated by seeing her children’s faces blasted across social media and news outlets around the world.
“I actually don’t love this outcome; as the mother of those two girls,” Lavely wrote .
“Even though their dad handled the situation well, what everyone doesn’t see is the fear a mother has seeing their kids exposed all over the media.”
The saga erupted after Brodsky posted video of a confrontation inside a women’s restroom during a road-trip stop at an Alabama QuikTrip.
The footage showed Brodsky helping his daughters wash their hands inside the women’s restroom when another man objected and called police.
One of the girls appeared visibly upset and cried as the argument unfolded.
The video quickly exploded online, sparking a heated debate over where fathers should take young daughters when family restrooms are unavailable.
Mothers flooded social media with messages praising him for protecting his daughters and remaining calm during the confrontation.
The incident drew national attention, and the man who called police was ultimately dropped by a Mississippi real estate company that said his conduct did not reflect its values.
But Lavely said the viral reaction came at a steep personal cost for the children.
“Over 20 million people have seen my girls,” she wrote.
Y’all make this man famous. We stopped at a QuikTrip on our road trip from Florida back to Oklahoma so my daughters could use the restroom. The women’s restroom was empty, so I took them in. I’d rather do that than bring two little girls into a men’s bathroom full of grown men and dirty stalls. This guy comes barging in yelling, scares my daughters, and somehow thinks THEY should’ve been in the men’s room instead. Am I wrong here? 🤷♂️ #GirlDad #RoadTrip #parenting #fyp #viral
“Not just being kids exposed all over. I see their dad approaching the man that scared my girls just for the video.”
Lavely also alleged that Brodsky has profited from the publicity while failing to financially support the children.
“I see my girls being capitalized for money,” she wrote. “I see people offering money to a man that hasn’t paid 1 penny to those girls just this year.”
The Post could not independently verify those claims. Lavely was not immediately available for comment.
“I’m not going to get into a public back-and-forth with the mother of my children,” Brodsky told The Post via email late Friday.
“My focus has always been, and will continue to be, our daughters. As for the financial accusations, those are simply not accurate. I’m not going to discuss private family matters publicly because my daughters deserve better than that.”
Lavely stressed that she does not object to fathers taking daughters into women’s restrooms when circumstances warrant it and said the controversy highlights the need for more family-friendly facilities.
“This is a need to be talked about situation,” she wrote.
UPDATE: My girls are safe, ha…