Brands Sever Ties With YouTuber Myka Stauffer After She 'Rehomes' Adopted Son With Autism

Myka Stauffer—the Ohio mom blogger and YouTuber who last week posted a seven-minute long apology video alongside her husband James, detailing their decision to “rehome” their adopted son Huxley to his “forever home” because of his special needs—is now facing professional ramifications for her barbarbic behavior.

According to Today, Playtex Baby, Danimals, Suave, Chili’s, and Big Lots have announced that they will no longer partner with Stauffer for the kind of sponcon posts that keep influencers in business. On Instagram, actor Kate Hudson told a fan that Stauffer had been “terminated” from any future Fabletics brand deals, Hudson’s activewear company. Playtex Baby also responded to a commenter on Instagram, saying “Our last post with her was back in February. We are not partnering with her moving forward.” Chili’s told another that “We haven’t partnered with Myka since the fall of 2019 and do not have plans for any future partnerships.”

In 2017, Stauffer traveled to China to “pick up” Huxley, where, she wrote in a blog at the time, she realized he “was profoundly developmentally delayed,” beyond what was outlined in the adoption paperwork. Still, they brought him home, named him Huxley, got him a diagnosis (autism spectrum disorder level 3) and, after three years together, “rehomed” him. “My son has taught me to love completely and unconditionally,” she wrote in that post, “regardless of circumstances and without exceptions.”

Stauffer did say in her apology video that “his new mommy has medical, professional training,” but neither Myka nor James Stauffer has commented or apologized for their use of pet adoption language, as if Huxley was a troublesome cat instead of a human child.