Matt and Abby Howard Reflect on Backlash from Their Controversial Father's Day Post: 'I Just Looked So Selfish'

01/10/2025 02:44 PM

The parents of two looked back a May 2024 episode of 'The Unplanned Podcast' that earned viral backlash

Matt and Abby Howard are looking back on their viral conversation about "boycotting" Father's Day that sparked criticism across the internet last year.

The TikTok sensations answered viewers' questions in a new episode of TheUnplanned Podcast, and in a snippet posted to TikTok, they revisited the controversial saga from over seven months ago. In May 2024, the parents of two revealed their plans to postpone their Father's Day celebration for several months in order to avoid celebrating the holiday and Matt's birthday at the same time. 

At the time, Abby, 25, explained that she combined the two festivities in 2023, which Matt, 26, remembered as "a bummer," but he admitted it was a busy day for the duo. They'd just returned from their baby-moon vacation, so according to the couple, Abby got her husband a cake and they spent the doubly special day grilling with family members.

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To follow the "disappointing" holiday in 2023, Matt and Abby revealed the following year they were "boycotting Father's Day in the month of June." For their delayed celebration, they said they planned to make a "big hoopla about it" at a later day in the year since "nothing goes on in September." 

During their 100th podcast episode released on Wednesday, Jan. 8, Matt expressed his surprise that the incident was covered by the mainstream media. His wife then prompted him to rate the incident on a scale from one to 10, noting, "You have to include the emotional trauma."

"I can laugh about it now," Matt replied. "At the time, I was like horrified."

For her part, Abby rated the incident a two out of 10. "It gets two stars back," she explained. "It's kind of funny in hindsight."

Related: TikTok Couple Matt and Abby Howard Are Boycotting Father's Day After He Says Their 2023 Holiday Was 'a Bummer'

Matt agreed that he could laugh about it now. "I'm like, that is so stupid. I mean the words I said too were so stupid as well. I obviously did not sound good at all," he said. "The clip that we put out, I just looked so selfish. I looked so full of myself."

Abby concluded by saying that she generally does not think "there's anything wrong with that controversy," but she admitted that she did not see the actual clip that caused a stir. "Maybe the clip made it look really bad, in which case, that's on us," she added. "I guess we had that one coming."