Nikki Garcia has addressed criticism she received on social media after sharing a photo of herself sharing a kiss on the lips with her five-year-old son.
The WWE star had taken her son Matteo for a fun day at Legoland California and shared several pictures from their outing on her social media.
In her Instagram post dated January 6, she expressed: “Matteo’s most favorite place ever! He never wants to leave omgosh. He’s always so happy there.”
She further mentioned: “He’s such a little master builder. This kid constantly impresses me.”
Despite the innocent nature of the photo, some individuals voiced their disapproval in the comment section due to the picture of her and her son kissing.
Garcia, 42, addressed the response in the January 16 episode of the SiriusXM podcast The Nikki & Brie Show, sharing her thoughts on the matter.
She explained: “There were quite a few reasons why I turned my comments off on that post, and it just goes to show why I don’t put my son on social media.
“It wasn’t even that many comments, but it was enough to bug me where like, ‘I can’t believe she kisses her son on the lips, he’s 5,’ and I’m like, ‘Dude, I can’t believe you’re so bothered by it and annoyed.’ That’s crazy to me.”
Garcia then elaborated on the specific photo in question.
She remarked: “In that photo that’s on the cover photo, that was his first time seeing Lego Santa, just the Lego version.
“He got so excited, so the lady was just taking photos. Matteo grabbed me and gave me that big kiss.”
She continued: “It was the cutest thing because you could tell he was so excited and grateful he was actually going into Legoland and he saw Lego Santa, so it was such a great moment.”
Garcia further clarified that the backlash is one of the reasons she is cautious about sharing her children’s images on social media.
“It’s weird when people put opinions on your kids, and then you’re like, ‘See, this is why I don’t post him because I love my kid to death and do you think I want to read this stuff about him?’” she expressed.
“But the kissing thing was so annoying to me and just bothersome because I’m like, first of all, I love my son so much, and I feel bad if your kid wants to kiss you on the lips and you tell him no.
“I think that’s sad because I don’t know what that would do to them mentally.”