Whitney Leavitt Says She "Didn't Do It for Clout" When She Posted Her RSV Dancing Video
"When you read so much hate about yourself, you can believe it."
Published Sept. 25 2024, 10:14 a.m. ET
While most of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast members made the rounds following the show's premiere on Hulu, Whitney Leavitt was noticeably absent from most appearances. So when she popped up on the podcast The Squeeze in the Sept. 25 episode to share her side of things in regards to all things, she held nothing back. She even commented on the NICU dancing video that still has people talking.
Even if you didn't watch the show, chances are, you saw the TikTok video of Whitney dancing next to her infant in his hospital room when he was diagnosed with RSV. At the time of her posting the video, she received tons of flack from other TikTok users. And when Secret Lives addressed it, Whitney opened up about it. Now, she addressed it again.
Whitney Leavitt comments on her NICU dancing video.
According to Whitney on The Squeeze podcast, she was doing ketamine therapy at the time when she made the video while her son was in the hospital under observation for RSV. She explained on the podcast that she was in a "dark" space and that she had been continuously reading negative comments directed toward her on social media.
Having given birth to her son not long before that, Whitney explained, she was also going through "hormonal changes." And, coming out of her ketamine treatment and sitting in her son's hospital room, she felt compelled to make a video to try "to find any glimpse of happiness" at the time. Whitney has since removed the video, but not before plenty of other TikTok users shared it.
"I just had a baby. And I'm on ketamine and I'm going through that, and I'm remembering reading such, like, hurtful and hateful messages about myself, and I'm sitting in that space and I'm believing it," Whitney said. "And so, I'm coming out of this saying all of these things. Like, I am a horrible person. … That was so dark, and I do believe that when you read so much hate about yourself, you can believe it. And that's what was happening. And I didn't do it for clout."
She added that her followers know, and knew at that time, that sharing dancing videos in response to various TikTok comments was something she was known for doing. It just so happened that this particular video went viral a lot faster than the others.