Chad Franke is shedding light on where he stands with his mom, Ruby Franke, amid her imprisonment.
In a video shared via TikTok on Tuesday, January 27, Chad used a sound from a viral Key & Peele sketch called “Sibling Rivalry,” and lip-synched, “Shut up mom. Silence from you! You’re cut off — from talking!”
Text over the video reads, “Every time I get a letter from my mom in prison.”
The clip has amassed more than 12 million views on the app.
News broke in 2023 that Ruby and her life coach, Jodi Hildebrant, were arrested on multiple counts of aggravated child abuse. The arrest came after Ruby’s youngest son, who was 12 years old at the time, escaped from Hildebrant’s home and asked a neighbor for help. Authorities noticed that the child was malnourished and his ankles and wrists had duct tape. His younger sister, who was 10 years old at the time, was in a similar state.
Ruby and Hildebrandt pleaded guilty and were both sentenced to four consecutive prison terms. They are currently behind bars.
While Ruby, ex-husband Kevin Franke and their six children rose to fame online via YouTube in 2015, the pair’s eldest kids — Chad and Shari — are the only children who have chosen to stay in the spotlight.
Shari, for her part, shared her side of the story in her 2025 book, The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom. In the memoir, Shari chronicled her mother’s alleged abuse.
“When I was younger, around, like, five-six, Ruby was really physical,” Shari, now in her early 20s, told Good Morning America at the time. “Whether it was like a slap to the lip or a slap to the cheek … when I would practice the piano, her hand would slam and it was really scary.”
When asked whether there is anything she would want to tell her mom today, Shari said, “Probably tell her I’m happy without you. I was scared of her for so long, and I am here without her approval, and I am just fine.”
While reflecting on her childhood during an appearance on the “Sunday Sports Club” podcast in 2025, Shari explained that being a content creator with Ruby’s 8 Passengers YouTube account impacted her relationship with Chad.
“It really starts to affect, like, our family relationships offline as well,” Shari said of the impact of “turning kids into content,” adding, “It affected my relationship with my brother for a while. Like, we can’t stand next to each other in pictures and we can’t give each other hugs. And, you know, we joke about it now, but for a while it was, you know, a genuine thought.”
Shari explained that there were moments when people questioned her relationship with Chad, leading to mistrust between the two siblings.
“I had to go to the hospital for something, and I posted a picture about it, and I got a lot of people that were like, ‘Oh, are you having your brother’s abortion?’ Like, from his baby. As a 17-[year-old], I mean, as any regular person, that’s awful,” she said. “It affected my relationship with him off the camera. So, things like that, I think had just added up over the years … I think realizing that 13-year-old Shari is always on the internet, and always will be, made me want to help other kids not have to go through that.”
Shari has since begun fighting for a bill to be passed that would protect child influencers.
“I don’t hold anyone accountable except for [Ruby] and Jodi and what they did. I don’t blame the viewers,” Shari said. “Where I would hold people accountable is for still supporting family content creators. That’s something that they can directly control, is their own consumption of it.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
