Mama Owl's Traumatic Reenactments Are Really Bothering Some TikTok Users

One of the great things about TikTok, at least in theory, is that there is something for everyone. Whatever you're into, you can find a creator making those kinds of videos and follow them. While that may be true in theory, there are apparently some bright red lines that TikTok users don't want to cross.

One of those red lines became clear following a recent controversy around a TikTok user who calls herself Mama Owl (@mathmanx). Here's what we know about the controversy surrounding her, and the video that sparked it.

Mama Owl became well known on TikTok for creating skits based on the real stories of people who send those stories into her. Often, the stories they're telling are fairly traumatic, which means that the skits can be hard to watch. Although many people have been opposed to this way of making videos for some time, she faced a more acute controversy at the end of June 2024 after she posted a video reenacting someone being sexually assaulted.

The video was taken down, but told the story of a young person who was assaulted by their teacher, and of the aftermath of that event, including how the parents, administrators, and staff handled it. Many people felt the video was way over the line, and started flooding the comments on all of her videos telling her that they did not approve of it (often in pretty unkind language).

In a video of her own, Mama Owl addressed the controversy she's facing, but placed the blame on an entirely different incident. In her video, she claimed that she had faced hate after telling off a spammer who was putting the lyrics to a song in her chat. She then showed screenshots of other accounts that were using her videos, which she claimed were "designed to degrade" her.

As she was facing backlash (for reasons that seem to be in dispute), more and more people discovered who she was, and as a result, they also formed an opinion on the kinds of videos she creates.

"Just went down this rabbit hole. Seems like she's having people message her their trauma for her to act out as fantasies. It's so weird," one person wrote on Reddit.

"She’s always kinda weirdly creeped me out with the kid acting stuff," another person added. "A 40+ year old person cosplaying as a child is just weird. But esp reenacting a S A of a child. Like at what point is crossing the line?"

While her content does resonate with some, it seems like others who are discovering her content for the first time feel like it may be crossing a line.

Now, Mama Owl is facing a lot of hate from the internet. Whatever you think about the kinds of videos she makes, they clearly resonate for some people. Now, though, it's unclear whether she'll continue making them or not.