Emilie Kiser has apologised after her toddler son Teddy was seen without a life jacket while on a boat. The influencer, 27, addressed the backlash which comes just over a year after her son Trigg died at the age of three in a drowning accident at their family home.
Backlash over boat footage
In footage taken from a trip to Mallorca in June with her husband Brady and fellow influencer Madi Curtis, Emilie’s son Teddy, who is 16 months old, is seen sitting with his father on the boat without a life jacket on. The video has since been deleted, but sparked fierce backlash from fans towards Emilie, who has become an advocate for water safety since her son’s death last year.
One fan, @aquasea1117 wrote: ‘I literally cannot believe they brought that baby on a boat never mind not safely.’ While kimaodonnell added: ‘Seriously how could they possibly still be so negligent?’
Emilie's statement
On Tuesday, Emilie addressed the reaction with a statement shared to her Instagram Stories saying: ‘Our child should have been in his life jacket for the entirety of that boat ride, not even for the few moments that he was out of it. ‘We are painfully aware that in a matter of seconds, your entire life can change, and we should have done better.’
She added: ‘We recognise and appreciate the genuine care that people have for our children. There has also been a deep level of anger and hurt directed toward our family, and we understand the basis of those feelings as well. It comes from the belief that Trigg should still be here, and we share that same belief more than can be expressed. He was only three years old, and should have lived a lifetime more. ‘That reality lives with us every moment of every single day.’
The post concluded: ‘We will continue to do better, advocate for better and, as hard as we try to avoid them, still make mistakes. ‘We can only promise that we will never stop learning from them and continue loving our children with everything we have.’
Pregnancy announcement after tragedy
Earlier this month Emilie announced that she and Brady are expecting their third baby, one year after Trigg’s death. She described the pregnancy as a ‘bright light’ after one of the darkest years of her family’s life.
Trigg drowned in an accident at the family’s Arizona home after falling into the swimming pool on May 12, 2025. He died in hospital six days later. In the following months, the couple faced intense public scrutiny. Police recommended Brady face a felony child abuse charge after investigating the circumstances surrounding Trigg’s drowning, but prosecutors later announced they would not pursue criminal charges.
Police records alleged Brady lost sight of Trigg while caring for Teddy, who was a newborn at the time, with investigators claiming surveillance footage showed the three-year-old had been unsupervised for longer than initially described. Emilie later won a court battle to prevent the most graphic details of the investigation from becoming public.
A judge ruled that portions of the police report, including descriptions of responding officers’ body camera footage, were so emotionally distressing that keeping them private was justified.
Speaking about grief
Despite the unimaginable loss, Emilie has gradually begun speaking about her grief. She spoke on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast in her first interview, where she reflected on how losing a child has changed her life. ‘Losing a child really shows you in the scariest, most real way possible just how quickly life can change,’ she said.
