Woman Upset By Her Nephews' 'Disrespectful' Announcement Of Her Brother's Passing—But Others Say They Had Every Right To Share It How They Choose
She and her parents found out on Facebook in a manner that she deemed crass.
TikTok Losing a loved one is a traumatic experience. People have varied ways of dealing with grief. Even members of the same family handle the loss of someone close to them differently.
One woman found her nephews’ reactions to her brother “disrespectful.”
She’s upset with them for posting photos of her late brother, but people in the comments disagree with her.
Alicia Mae Holloway is a professional ballerina and was a contestant on the 25th season of The Bachelor. Holloway posted to the video-sharing app TikTok her story of how she found out about her brother’s passing. She explained that he was “very sick” before his death.
A week prior, he was discharged from the hospital to spend the remainder of his time at home, since the doctors could not further assist him. He was looked after by his two sons — her nephews — who are both in their late 20s. She explained that he was in a poor state.
“He was alive but he was barely breathing, and he was pretty much already gone at this point,” she said.
It’s difficult to learn of a loved one's passing. Most people don’t want to hear it in an impersonal way. However, Holloway and her parents learned of his death from Facebook, and after hearing about the tragedy, what she saw on the social media site, disturbed her.
“I open the app, and I see a video of my brother getting carried out of his house in a body bag,” she said. “For some reason, they thought that that would be a great idea to share to the world.”
Her nephews’ girlfriends also shared the photos. Before he had passed, they shared a photo of him terminally ill in bed, which she also took issue with. Holloway clarified that she was not upset at their grief but rather the act itself.
“I totally understand that everybody deals with grief differently...maybe that was their way to deal with grief,” she said. “To me and to my parents that was just the most outlandish, disrespectful thing.”
She also believed that her brother would disapprove of his son's choice. “I just know that he would’ve hated that,” she said.
Many in the comments disagreed with Holloway bashing her nephews’ choice.
Some people pointed out that her brother was their loved one too, and it’s their right to act how they did. “To be fair, his kids can handle their grief of THEIR father however they want,” one person wrote.
“Here’s the thing, if they’re the ones there taking care of him and sitting with him while he’s dying, they can decide who to share that with,” another added.
Other people also questioned her relationship with her brother. Though, many supported her and ridiculed the desensitization of people because of social media. “Social media has and will continue to ruin so many lives. I am SO incredibly sorry this happened to you,” one person wrote.
Holloway replied, agreeing with the sentiment. To respond to the backlash, she made a follow-up video elaborating on her viewpoint.
She explained that finding out about her brother’s passing via social media was difficult. She also clapped back at the people who felt her nephews had the right to post him because he was their father.
“He was somebody’s son before he was a dad. He was somebody’s brother before he was a dad,” she said. “The fact that we found out the way we did just made it so much harder.”
Holloway’s relationship with her brother and his family is not up for assumptions. And whatever it was, finding out about a loved one’s passing from social media is difficult for anyone. Hopefully, she and her nephews can move on from this in a more positive direction.
Ethan Cotler is a writer living in Boston. He writes on entertainment and news.