The debate stems from Decker's sister being asked to clean up after her child on a United flight.
Jessie James Decker is running to her sister, Sydney Rae Bass', defense after it was revealed she was forced -- while 22 weeks pregnant -- to pick up her daughter's popcorn mess on a United Airlines flight, and the episode has sparked a fiery online debate on parenting.
The incident came to light when Bass' husband, Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Anthony Bass, took to Twitter on Sunday morning and posted a photo of his daughter in her seat wearing headphones and using an iPad. The photo also showed the popcorn spilled below her seat.
"The flight attendant @united just made my 22 week pregnant wife traveling with a 5 year old and 2 year old get on her hands and knees to pick up the popcorn mess by my youngest daughter. Are you kidding me?!?!" Anthony wrote.
The tweet triggered a firestorm, with people chiming from both sides of the aisle -- some appalled with how his pregnant wife was treated and others taking Bass to task for having the gall to complain that the mother of his children was asked to clean up the mess her child made on the plane.
In her since-expired Instagram Story, Decker said her sister was "humiliated" after a flight attendant approached her with a trash bag and a wet wipe and told her that the captain wanted her to "clean up every drop."
"My sister @sydneyraebass just texted me from her flight on @united," Decker said in her Instagram Story. "As you know she is five months pregnant, high-risk and also traveling alone with her two small children. Blaire accidentally spilled some popcorn in the aisle, and the flight attendant came up to Sydney with a trash bag and a wet wipe, telling her the captain wants Syd to clean up every drop."
"My poor sister is on her hands and knees, crying in the aisle," Decker continued, "completely humiliated and exhausted, with her children while everyone else watched. Way to go, United."
After Anthony's tweet, United's verified Twitter account responded to him saying, "Hi there, Anthony. We certainly understand your concern and we'd like to look into this. When you have a moment, please DM your wife's confirmation number along with any additional details regarding her interaction with this crew member."
The day after the incident, Sydney took to Instagram and posted a photo of Blaire holding a bag of popcorn. Sydney simply captioned it, "She so cute 😍," with many of her followers defending her in the comments section.
One person wrote, "Are we supposed to carry hand held vacuums with us, too?!! Give mommas a break… especially ones traveling solo! Plane rides are hard enough with little ones💓 🍿." Another said, "Accidents happen. I’m sure flight attendants have cleaning supplies. All these moms out here being crazy saying she should crawl on the floor immediately and cleanup. Wondering if all these moms actually wash their own dishes at restaurants since apparently 'that’s what you do at home.'"
But not everyone was on Sydney's side. In that same post, someone commented, "Clean up your mess , this honestly is pathetic," while someone else said, "Clean up after your own child 😵💫."
Sydney's husband also caught flak on his Twitter mentions. Someone replied to his post with, "Genuinely curious who should clean up the mess your 2 year old made? As a parent of three kids I am the one responsible for them." Anthony responded, saying, "The cleaning crew they hire!"
Anthony also had people on his side. One person replied, "I think it’s disgusting that the stewardess made a pregnant woman clean up a mess if they’re going to supply popcorn on the airplane be ready for messes to clean up if you don’t like it, don’t serve popcorn."
After the story went viral, it didn't go unnoticed that the announcers seemingly poked fun at Anthony during Monday night's Blue Jays game against the Astros in Houston. After he entered in the fifth inning -- with the Blue Jays trailing 8-1 -- the game announcer said, "Your new pitcher is ex-Astro Anthony Bass on to try and clean it up."
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