Good Morning America! I’m about to go live to spread some love and hopefully share more cat photos ! 😻 wish me luck! pic.twitter.com/tEcvEUveHj
— Pieter Hanson (@Thatwasmymom) October 12, 2018
Last week we had a rare bright spot in the news cycle when a man who was unwittingly made into a meme with his mom’s stupid #HimToo tweet decided to join Twitter, declare himself and ally and share cat photos. As a quick recap, a mom shared a photo of her son decked out in his navy gear and claimed he wouldn’t go on solo dates “due to the current climate of false sexual accusations by radical feminists with an axe to grind.” Twitter memed the hell out of that and it was so fun to watch. Then the guy’s brother, Jon Hanson, tweeted a photo with him and wrote that he was “laughing hard and feeling bad for him.” He convinced his brother, Pieter, to join Twitter and he showed he was a good sport and person. He wrote that he respects and believes women and that he will never support #HimToo.
In response, Pieter and Jon’s mom, Marla Reynolds, issued a brief statement. She didn’t apologize but emphasized her relationship with her son. She wrote, “I learned a valuable lesson about the Internet and hope to move on with the great relationship we’ve always had.”
Well Pieter and Jon were on Good Morning America last Friday to talk about this story. They were just as awesome as they came across on Twitter. You can watch the video below and here’s some of what they said.
On if everything is forgiven with their mom
Pieter: I gave her a call the next morning and said ‘hey mom, I forgive you, you’re still my mom. This was a mulligan, you know.
Jon: I think deep down she meant really well.Their mom didn’t realize her tweet was public
Jon: She was having a political debate on Twitter and thought it was a private conversation. She didn’t really understand.
Pieter: Her first week on Twitter.Pieter on issuing a statement
I [am] a positive person [I] felt that this is what I need[ed] to do.On being new to Twitter
Pieter: Obviously when you get 43,000 followers you start posting photos of your cats. I had in the neighborhood of 10,000 cat photos sent to me.Pieter on looking for love
Yes I am single. I’ve had a lot of offers already. I’ve had offers as far as Australia ‘Hey come on down I’ll take you down under.’ Oh that sounded terrible! Oh no.
[From GMA]
That last part, where he made that double entendre about Australia and then caught himself, was so cute. He may have practiced that but I don’t care because it was adorable. This is when the Internet is at its best and I’m following Pieter on Twitter now and liking his cat photos.
The story of #HimToo — used by activists who believe men are in danger of being falsely accused of sexual assault. https://t.co/hOA4cYZxGS@Thatwasmymom speaks out LIVE here in Times Square! pic.twitter.com/cra6EhFzni
— Good Morning America (@GMA) October 12, 2018
What would this tweet be without the obligatory cat photo! Say hello to Pascal who proudly supports navy cats everywhere! pic.twitter.com/1og8QC4wWs
— Pieter Hanson (@Thatwasmymom) October 13, 2018
So my brother @Thatwasmymom is a cat dad. I’m a Chihuahua father. Meet Princess Pebbles and Kirby. Ultra spoiled dogs. pic.twitter.com/RFlp3De1no
— Jon Hanson (@DancinJonHanson) October 14, 2018
Had such a blast on @GMA this morning! The Hanson Brothers were in true form and Amy and I were cracking up from backstage. Time to go enjoy the city! @Thatwasmymom @DancinJonHanson #GoodMorningAmerica #himtoo #NegativesintoPositives #dorks #NewYorkCity #surprise #abc pic.twitter.com/kWwC6gJU8E
— Sarah Nich 🍺 (@RiveterSarah) October 12, 2018
He’s so cute! Definitely would. I absolutely love how he’s rocking the original pose in all these photos too.
People dragged him for that pose so it’s funny how he just won’t stop with it.
He and his brother are adorable and funny and sweet. Their mom is lucky they are such good sports. I mean they can give her all the benefit of the doubt in the world but she flat out lied about her son to fit her political agenda. That’s awful.
Yup. That’s the take home (apart from all the adorableness). She made a FALSE CLAIM. So ironic.
I think what people don’t understand is that speaking up is so, so very hard. I have talked about my own situation with harassment at work and how I tried hard to deal with it myself (basically move offices, avoid certain places) and it didn’t end. Speaking up was so embarrassing because it felt like there was a situation I couldn’t handle and I needed to ask for help. I needed to cause what I saw as a disruption. We as women are taught to not make waves, to try to please everyone. It was awful calling my boss up and breaking down over the phone about this, explaining in detail to my boss and then to HR. It was a terrible experience. It’s so offensive that people are casting doubt.
His mom sounds like a POS that was making up lies and using her son to prove a point / support her own conservative views. She didn’t mean well 😂 at least we got some cat pics and a cute ending out of it.
The brothers are adorable but I wish they’d stop making excuses for the mom. She is hateful and was straight up lying in order to make her hateful point – regardless of whether she thought it was a private conversation or not!
Yeah, no excuse. She’s rotten.
I’m pretty sure they let their Mom have it behind the scenes but it really doesn’t come off well to go apesheet on your Mom in public as you would in private. His reply to his mom and being to the show as an ally (without Mom) is proof enough. IMO they come across as respecting women whether they agree with them or not. So at least their Mom did a good job of raising them well regardless of her bias and hate.
Who the heck would want the public to go after their mom, even if she was a POS? They’re being respectful toward her so others won’t go after her.
How on earth did she get such thoughtful, compassionate sons? Maybe they had a dad that helped raise them with those traits? These men are pretty amazing though to be such good guys with a mother who expresses those political beliefs.
Not exactly the same thing, but kind of. I have an uncle who is absolutely reprehensible…a bigoted, racist, religious zealot who LOVES the current inhabitant of the White House and, like many of his ultra-pious ilk, completely ignores the actual teachings of Christianity (humility, compassion, service to others, love and kindness toward all, etc.) and is, hypocritically, on his THIRD MARRIAGE, and he’s got two kids who are great. Thoughtful, kind, intelligent, open-minded, and accepting. So it does happen, albeit not very often.
Sometimes kids of bigoted parents learn to question their parents’ logic/assumptions.
The mom is a piece of work. Her apology is BS and meaningless. She still believes that men are being routinely falsely accused of sexual assault and she still supports #HimToo. She’s lucky she has charming sons who changed the narrative of the story and reflect positively on her.
I think her flat-out lie is so indicative of trump and republicans. They just lie. Boldly. Without remorse. I wonder how mad she was at her son that he revealed her deception.
100%, these fools believe what they are typing. They are a cult rather than voters.
Those chihuahua’s really do have the evil eye down pat – they are cute but they scare me.
Dogs? That cat is saying, “Take the damn photo and get me out of this costume! I mean NOW!”
I would sleep with one eye open. That cat is plotting revenge!!
I know, right? My cat makes that same face when she’s annoyed with me and it is kinda scary.
Haha, I was thinking that the cat obviously has murder on his mind! 🤣
The cat looks ready to kill someone/something! Love the expression on it.
These guys are just cute and fun.
I feel for people with parents like this. When the kids can’t get through to their parents, there is little hope they will change.
I’m not jumping on their bandwagon as nice as it is because as soon as I allow myself to feel good about such foolery something gross will come out about these boys and then I’ll feel stupid again for believing there’s any good internetting out there in this cold terrible world
I definitely wouldn’t. I’d hate to ruin Thanksgivings by cussing out the mother, but that is inevitably where it would end up.
Am I the only sceptical one here thinking this is not some genuine mishap, but is a pretty genius calculated move?
I don’t know what the end game is here, but I’m side eyeing this whole thing…
I had that thought too, but he could be a genial guy in a bad situation who really is just making the best of it, I hope?
Parents make up sh*t about their kids all the time when they are trying to impress people. From politics, to relationships, to jobs. Trying to make others believe their kids are perfect, a lot like them and yes follow their political beliefs, when it is very opposite. My dad used to say his kids were liberal just like him, which wasn’t the truth. My brother became the Alex Keating of the family and very conservative when the rest of us were liberal. My Dad told me he knew my brother was liberal deep down lol, whatever that is.
The sons seem bright? How? (I mean, they clearly didn’t get this from their mother).
I don’t consider myself stupid, but I don’t think I’d have the emotional intelligence to know how to turn this situation around in the media even if I thought my mother was in the wrong. I’d probably be crying in a corner somewhere feeling sorry for myself that I was the butt of a joke while everyone is making fun of me. I’m impressed.
I think it’s probably not the first time she’s done something like this. I mean, this is probably the first time it’s ever been on this scale, but I’m sure Mom has been trying to pull the strings behind the scenes for years and they have gotten very practiced at putting her in her place, firmly but kindly. I am sorry that they have had to develop that skill. I can’t stand parents who consider their children extensions of themselves at any age, but especially when you’re projecting your hatred and bias onto other adults. It’s so gross.