By now everyone has heard of Keaton Jones. And for those who are unaware, Keaton is a middle school student who went viral after his mother posted a video of him asking her why he was always being bullied. In the gut-wrenching clip, Keaton can be heard saying: ‘just out of curiosity why do they bully?’ Now, professional MMA fighter and kickboxing champion, Joe Schilling, has come forth to say that Keaton Jones’ mother is running a scam to get money.
It was because of the viral video that people all over the world, including celebrities and athletes, paid attention to young Keaton.
But in the day and age of social media, the internet detectives have uncovered a rather startling past.
In the video, Keaton could be seen teary-eyed and asking his mother: ‘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 okay.’
E! Online
The more than minute-long video show Keaton retelling his day at school. He says that bullies call him ‘ugly’ and tell him he has no friends. They then proceed to pour milk on him and shove ‘ham down his clothes.’ In the footage, he said: ‘I don’t like that they do it to me. People that are different don’t need to be criticized for it. It’s not their fault.’
As more and more people saw the video, they began to rally behind the young boy. Gal Gadot went on Twitter to write: ‘different is special, you’re beautiful Keaton, inside and out.’
Chris Evans then invited Keaton to the premiere of Avengers: Infinity War and Hailee Steinfeld invited Keaton to the premiere of Pitch Perfect 3.
Then quarterback Jarrett Guarantano spent the whole day hanging out with Keaton and even calling him his ‘new best bud.’
Jarrett went on Twitter to say: ‘so I got the chance to spend the day with my new best bud Keaton. It was unbelievable to get to know him and realize that we have a lot in common. This dude is very special and has changed my life forever. Now I have the little brother I always wanted! God bless you, my man.’
But it doesn’t end there, a consortium of celebrities stepped forward in order to offer words of encouragement to the Tennessee boy.
Celebs such as Snoop Dogg, Mark Hamill, and Millie Bobby Brown all tweeted messages of support to Keaton. By now, Keaton’s video which was posted by his mother, Kimberly Jones, has amassed more than 20 million views on YouTube.
But a quick dive into Kimberly’s social media past reveals something that might not be so innocent. Some people uncovered racist posts on her social media as well as photos that display Confederate flags.
Furthermore, Kimberly was also a critic of Colin Kaepernick’s protest against police brutality. She would regularly post photos of the Confederate flags and have rants that started with ‘Dear Butt Hurt Americans.’
And just like that, rumours began to spread that pointed at Keaton being bullied because he called the other kids racial slurs.
Many pointed out the hypocrisy of Kimberly’s video by saying: ‘my heart goes out to anyone dealing with bullying, but wassup with the racist images on Keaton Jones’s mom’s Facebook page? Wouldn’t that kinda make her a bully too?’
Nick Stevenson tweeted: ‘this is in response to my offering Saturday night regarding #keatonjones #bullying which touched a nation and in a fit of happiness the world was good. If what I’m hearing about his mother’s #racism is true-shame on you #KimberlyJones I’m still #KeatonStrong but #racism isn’t on.’
But the most interesting point comes from MMA fighter Joe Schilling. Joe said that he contacted Kimberly via Instagram hoping to invite Keaton to one of his Bellator fights.
Joe shared a video on Instagram that said: ‘go look at her in, watch her story posts she’s just running a money scam. Really really sad and disgusting. Tagging celebrities trying to get them to donate to her go fund me account smfh.’
He continued: ‘I feel pretty stupid right now, I was pretty moved by Keaton Jones’s video so I reached out to his mom and was going to bring him out to LA for a Bellator event that’s coming up.’
‘[I was going to] be his friend, and she just wants money. She just wants me to share her GoFund account.’ Joe then said that Kimberly told him: ‘you know Christmas is coming and I’m a single mother, blah, blah, money’s tight.’
By now, Kimberly’s GoFundMe account has amassed more than $58,000 in donations but currently, her account has been suspended.
TwitterFox News contacted Kimberly about Joe’s claims and she simply called them ‘untrue.’ As of this writing, it is unclear whether or not the account is legitimate.
Kimberly posted this on Facebook before she took her page down: ‘I did not tell him that I would rather have donations instead of the help from celebrities.’
Twitter
When asked why she took down her Facebook account she said: ‘I’ve taken that down for a reason,’ but did not expand on what that ‘reason’ was.
Twitter
Kimberly, who also took her Instagram page down, said this: ‘I love my kids: You’ll people do not know me or my family. Did y’all know that my son Keaton was spat on in school, picked on by teachers, that were supposed to be there for him??? I’m guessing y’all didn’t because y’all wanna steady Judge me and say I’m using him for money that’s false.’
TwitterPatton Oswalt defended the young boy by tweeting: ‘Keaton didn’t get to choose the family that raised & shaped him, you smug ghoul. How ‘bout showing him that people of all races & creeds can come together? Change things, maybe? Show him a better world?’
Twitter
Others such as Parson James chimed in by tweeting: ‘with the revelations about #KeatonJones family surfacing we must remember a few things. We cannot hold kids accountable for the actions of their parents/family. Though disheartening, we were all moved by the effects of bullying and to end it. Let’s continue to focus on that.’
