The Daily Telegraph

Mother of bully victim Keaton, 11, faces backlash over allegedly cashing in on his misery

A bullied schoolboy was championed, and then rejected, by the fickle social justice warriors

- By and

Ben Riley-smith, Mike Wright

David Urban

“THEY make fun of my nose. They call me ugly. They say I have no friends,” Keaton Jones, 11, says to the camera as tears stream down his face.

“Just out of curiosity, why do they bully?” asks the Tennessee schoolboy. “What’s the point of it? Why do you find joy in taking innocent people and finding a way to be mean to them. It’s not OK.”

This was the internet story of the year – a video showing a boy’s anguish garnering 20million views and an outpouring of support from celebritie­s.

Katy Perry, the singer, tweeted: “This broke my heart. Please be kind to one another.” Justin Bieber, the pop star, called Keaton “a legend” for speaking out. But now there has been an online backlash over his mother, who filmed her son and put the video on Facebook. Internet sleuths found photograph­s on Kimberly Jones’s Facebook page showing her and her son posing with the Confederat­e flag and she also faced criticism after Gofundme accounts appeared, which allowed for people moved by the video to donate money.

On Tuesday, Ms Jones told Good Morning America the photos were taken in jest. “It was meant to be ironic and funny and extreme. I am genuinely truly sorry. If I could take it back, I would.” Ms Jones said that “anybody who wants to take the time to ask anybody who I am” would realise she is not bigoted, adding: “We’re not racist.”

But questions soon arose about the mother’s motives as numerous fundraisin­g accounts linked to the issue appeared, one raising close to $60,000 (£45,000) in three days. Ms Jones confirmed one of them had her blessing, but it had since been frozen. She said of her detractors: “They want to hate me, whatever, that’s fine, but still talk to your kids because this is an epidemic.”

A representa­tive of Horace Maynard Middle School in Maynardvil­le, which Keaton attends, confirmed a bullying incident had taken place but added: “We will not tolerate bullying.”

‘Just out of curiosity, why do they bully? It’s not OK.” As Keaton Jones, a schoolboy from Tennessee, tells his mum that bullies called him ugly and poured milk over his head, it is impossible not to be moved. Through his tears, Keaton proclaims: “People that are different don’t need to be criticised for it.” Yet, despite his own suffering, he is still able to think of others: “If you are being made fun of, don’t let it bother you. Stay strong, I guess. It’s hard but it’ll probably get better one day.”

His mother, Kimberly Jones, did as every loving parent does when their child cries. She made a video of him and posted it on Facebook. Mum no doubt wanted sympathy for her boy and confirmati­on that she was doing her best by him. Not in her wildest dreams could Jones have predicted what happened next.

Her short film of Keaton was, in four days, viewed more than 20 million times. Messages of support came from a gamut of celebrity singers, film stars and athletes. “This breaks my heart. Keaton, you’re strong and beautiful,” tweeted the reality star Kendall Jenner. Donald Trump Junior claimed: “This boy is incredibly brave and the video really got to me.” “You show here you have empathy,” claimed actress Patricia Arquette. “That is what is going to make you an amazing man and friend.” Keaton and his mother were offered video chats with singer Justin Bieber, tickets to film premieres, sporting events and – surely every young boy’s dream – a visit to Fox News.

The actress Eva Longoria best summed up the mood: “I love this boy and I’ve never met him.” But how could Longoria and her famous friends love Keaton? Except for one tearful video lasting a little over a minute, they knew nothing about him. No; what they loved was not Keaton the boy but Keaton the symbol – vulnerable, wise and selfless. Keaton was assumed to represent values everyone wants to be associated with: don’t be a bully, respect people who are different, stay strong. Through declaring their support for Keaton, social media users could proclaim to the world that they were a nice person, the type who roots for the victim.

But then came a plot twist. It turns out, to use a word much loved by virtue-signalling social media activists, that Keaton’s family are “problemati­c”. The film-producer and campaigner Tariq Nasheed unearthed from the mother’s Facebook page some “very problemati­c posts bullying black protesters”. What’s more, Kimberly, from Tennessee let us not forget, was photograph­ed standing next to the Confederat­e flag. It seems no further evidence is needed for the labels “suspected racist” and “hypocrite” to be attached to her forever more.

As USA Today euphemisti­cally puts it, the Keaton story has grown “more complicate­d”. On Twitter, liberals are now warning each other “we should be aware of who we are centering”. Unfortunat­ely for poor Keaton, he has become a Milkshake Duck.

The meme of the Milkshake Duck began last summer – which, as far as social media trends go, is ancient history. At first, everyone loves the milkshake-drinking duck. But then – horror! – it turns out the duck has a racist past. No sooner has the duck achieved internet popularity than it is just as rapidly rejected. Of course, the joke here is not on the duck so much as on the people who propelled it to fame, only to backtrack the minute a “problemati­c” new detail emerges. Poor Keaton, bullied by his classmates, lavished with attention when celebritie­s could use him to display their compassion, is now being rejected so those very same celebritie­s can show their opposition to racism.

His story raises important and timely questions about our social media age: do victims of bullying deserve less sympathy if they, or their families, do not share in the same liberal values as Twitter’s SJWS (social justice warriors)? More urgently, does Keaton still get to go to the premiere of the new Avengers film? Perhaps the invitation can stand as long as he is accompanie­d by a crowd-approved and politicall­y aware (“woke”, in the SJW argot) chaperone, rather than by his mum.

It doesn’t really matter. The social media bandwagon will simply pile on to the next cause du jour. In the meantime, let’s find some clicktivis­ts and see if they can still remember who the Chibok schoolgirl­s are. #Virtuesign­allingdoes­ntcount

 ??  ?? Keaton Jones’s tearful video – but suspicions over his mother’s motives have been expressed online
Keaton Jones’s tearful video – but suspicions over his mother’s motives have been expressed online
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