Mommy influencer Emilie Kiser has been forced to apologize and vowed to “do better” after a video circulated social media showing her 16-month-old son on a boat without a life jacket – one year after her 3-year-old son Trigg drowned in their family pool. 

The clip – which was uploaded and subsequently deleted by Kiser’s friend and fellow influencer Madi Curtis this week – drew intense backlash online after it appeared to show Theodore “Teddy” Kiser sitting without a life jacket alongside his father, Brady Kiser, on a boat during a family vacation in Spain last month. 

Curtis’ own daughter was also seen without a life jacket in the video, while her young son was visible wearing an orange vest. Spanish law requires all children under 13 to wear life jackets on any moving recreational boat. 

Influencer Emilie Kiser has issued an apology after her toddler was filmed sitting on a boat without wearing a life jacket. @emiliekiser/TikTok Kiser discusses water safety in a video posted to her TikTok account. @emiliekiser/TikTok

Online critics were quick to question why more precautions weren’t taken to protect Kiser’s toddler near the water – particularly since the couple’s older son, Trigg, died from a drowning incident at their Arizona home’s backyard pool in May 2025. 

“Emilie’s son drowned in a pool while her husband was betting on DraftKings. She didn’t install a pool gate because it clashed with the design of her house,” conservative podcaster Katie Miller said in a new X post. 

“Now, her surviving one year old was boating without a life jacket. 

“A parent’s job is the safety and security of their kids, not aesthetic social media,” Miller wrote. 

Kiser, 27 – who is currently pregnant with the couple’s third child, and boasts more than 7 million followers across TikTok and Instagram – addressed the controversy in a statement shared on social media Tuesday. 

“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,” she wrote. “We are painfully aware that in a matter of seconds, your entire life can change, and we should have done better.”

Emilie Kiser wipes away a tear during her first interview after her son, Trigg’s death, on June 17, 2026. YouTube/Jay Shetty Podcast The couple’s eldest son, Trigg, died at age three after drowning in the family’s Arizona backyard pool in 2025. Instagram/@emiliekiser Kiser is currently pregnant with the couple’s third child. Instagram/@emiliekiser

The influencer thanked supporters for their “genuine care” toward her children and also acknowledged a “deep level of anger and hurt directed toward our family.”

“It comes from the belief that Trigg should still be here, and we share in that same belief more than can be expressed,” Kiser said. 

“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,” the statement concluded. 

Kiser has publicly discussed and pressed the importance of water safety since Trigg fell into the family’s pool in Chandler while Brady was home alone with their two children in May 2025. 

Brady told police he lost sight of Trigg after the toddler went outside following dinner, and said he was distracted by the couple’s five-week-old baby inside. Investigators said the boy was alone for almost 10 minutes and in the water for about seven before he was recovered. 

There was no fence around the pool.

Trigg died on May 18, six days after being pulled from the water. 

In the public apology, Kiser acknowledged her child should have been in a life jacket for the entire course of the boat ride. @emiliekiser/Instagram Kiser thanked everyone for their “genuine care” toward her children and also recognized the “deep level of anger and hurt” directed to the family. Instagram/@emiliekiser

Kiser revealed that she has forgiven her husband during an emotional appearance last month on Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast – where she also listed things that parents can do to keep their children safe around water. 

“The main thing I hope people can take away from what Trigg went through and what our family went through is just, once again, that it’s preventable,” Kiser said. 

“If you have a pool and you have a young child, get a pool fence. I know there’s other options – I was there. I chose a net. I regret it,” she admitted, and urged parents to put their kids into swim lessons from an early age and dress them in brightly-colored swimsuits that are easy to spot in the water. 

In the recent boat video, however, Teddy was reportedly seen wearing a white swimsuit aboard the boat voyage around the Spanish island of Mallorca. 

Megan Ferraro, the executive director of the ZAC Foundation – a nonprofit dedicated to drowning prevention – said she’s been following Kiser’s content since Trigg’s death last year. 

“I think Emilie has a real opportunity to educate her followers about safety around the water and general safe parenting strategies, so it was disappointing to see this occur,” Ferraro told The Post, referring to the controversial video. 

“Obviously, she has experienced the most tragic thing a parent can experience, and it’s our hope that she continues to learn about what water safety looks like and how she can educate her followers about safe behaviors around water,” she continued. 

“Drowning is the leading cause of death for kids ages 1 to 4, full stop. So when we have kids in this age range, we need to take these layers of protection seriously,” Ferraro added.