Every parent wants their child to be successful, that's just a fact. Whether it's following their dreams to become a teacher or working hard to be a professional athlete, as long as our kids are healthy and happy, parents are thrilled. But sometimes the success can go too far, and that's when things get messy.
One famous YouTube star, Danielle Cohn, has made headlines recently because of her outlandish and borderline-inappropriate posts on social media with her boyfriend. Now, you're probably thinking "well, yes. That's social media." But here's the issue...Danielle is only 13 years old.
Actually, no one knows Danielle's exact age. Her father says she's 13, her mother and her say she's 15. No proof has been provided either way. What we do know, however, is that she's definitely acting old than she is. Danielle stirred up some controversy when she tried to fool her followers into thinking she got married, and then again when she announced that she was pregnant with her 17-year-old boyfriend's baby.
That story was false, but after it was revealed that Danielle was still extremely young, her boyfriend's parents took away his social media.
"After some sensitive information was brought to my attention about Danielle, we no longer support Mikey and Danielle's relationship," Mikey Kua's mother Katie wrote via Mikey's Instagram stories. "Because Mikey is still a minor, we have taken away his social media. He will be able to get it back when we have worked through some legal stuff. Thank you!"
Danielle's father, Dustin, finally has had enough about the way his daughter is acting, and he took to Facebook to explain the ugly side of things. He and Danielle's mother, Jennifer, are no longer together, and Dustin believes that Jennifer is the one forcing Danielle to promote her fame.
I have decided to set things straight about my daughter Danielle Cohn. For years I have done the diplomatic thing while dealing with my daughter being online in a way I didn’t approve of and trying to have it handled out of social media because I figured the system would work and keep my daughter safe. I will get small things out of the way first. I was never married to her mother Jennifer and Danielle is my only child with her. The only person I have ever married is my wife now Heather.
Danielle and Jen did live with me from birth till around ten. I allowed her to stay at my house despite not dating for ten years rent free so we could both take care of Chad and Danielle. They were never homeless and Danielle was allowed stay with me at any time. Her grandmother Linda lives an hour away from Orlando, so how homeless could they really have been? I would never throw my child out on the streets.
Danielle is 13. I have never liked Danielle being on social media especially when she started at such an early age. But paegents[sic], and modeling, and then musically we’re all pushed on her. It was always a huge problem to me. I asked for it to stop immediately, which it didn’t. We found Pinterest boards with her photos and I told her mom I worried about pedaphiles[sic]. We tried to take measures to stop it but it didn’t stop. The pictures now have gotten worse and worse. I am finally saying something on social media because people need to be held accountable.
When Danielle was first on social media on musically I was disgusted that kids would post videos and their parents thought it was ok. I asked for it to stop but it didn’t, and now it has spiraled into me being worried about my daughters safety. I have gone through multiple outlets and no one cares because I am the father and it proves fathers have no rights. I’m not heard at all and pushed to the side. I want these companies to be held accountable because they never did their due diligence in checking my daughter’s age, and have used a minor for profit because the money is more important than the truth. The exploitation of children on these sites needs to stop. If that means I have to be that person, I will come out and show the disgusting truth.
Despite my feelings, I allowed Danielle to move to California if this made her happy, with the agreement that she would visit once a month, send school records, and be appropriate. If I found something inappropriate they’d take it down. It started with crop tops to bikinis and now lingerie? Instead of it being taken down, now every time I ask, im told Danielle wants to post it (even when she was 11) and I’m told she’s losing likes. To me safety is more important. Instagram, YouTube, fashion nova, buzzfeed, universal, target, Bang Energy Drinks and the State of California are ok with child exploitation, obviously. They have no issues using my daughter for clicks, a minor, someone who just turned 13.
I have contacted Instagram and YouTube and they both ignored me while they made money off exploiting my daughter. My mother contacted target when her age was listed as 13, they changed it for a day, which you all saw then changed it back, when “someone else” called them. I contacted the child labor board in California who told us her birthdate was wrong and then hurried off the phone. All of these platforms and organizations saw the money, or didn’t care enough, and its continued for years now.
I have never once given my approval for Danielle to do any ads or promotions or shows and if you have something saying I did, it was fake. Please don’t call me asking if I authorized her to work, I haven’t and will not period. She is a child and should not have been “working” from such a young age. But many people around her and these companies cared more about the money. If you have something with my signature, you were scammed.
Yes, I have a custody agreement where my daughter is supposed to see me every month for a week but her mother only sends her when she feels like it, makes it difficult and I go months without a call or seeing her. She wasn’t even allowed to attend my wedding. When she is here she gets constant calls to do this or that ad and I worry if she’s actually enjoying life. She was pulled out of school for online school without my knowledge at first. I have to argue to try to see school records, which I’ve never been shown. I had to call the child services in California 6 months ago to ask if my daughter was in school. She was so smart and probably could’ve gotten a cheerleading scholarship eventually. When I called the police, I also stated I was worried she was dating much older boys. Instead of checking they sent police for a welfare check. A police officer called to me to tell me he felt sorry that things weren’t right at the house but they could do nothing for me. All this did was place a bigger wedge between me and Danielle.
I haven’t seen her since. Yet, she was in Orlando a month ago but no one called to tell me. She has met her nephew on the other side of her family but not her new sister. Once again the system has failed me.I have a parental agreement which says I should be contacted about any job Danielle has to ensure its age appropriate. I have never been contacted once. When I’ve asked to be in contact with her managers it never happens. I am allowed to have anything I deem not appropriate to be taken down but she never will and Instagram and YouTube just ignore me. Once again I spent 20 grand to get half custody that I deserved years ago for no one to care about making sure it gets followed unless I spend thousands again to fight it. How is that fair that because I am a father the system screws us.
Everyone can see this is wrong the way she’s been posed and her pictures.I also feel sorry for these young guys who are being lied to and put in a horrible position of dating an under age and ILLEGAL minor. She is 13 and should not be around 17 year old boys. It is disgusting and unreal. I have asked Jen to not allow her around boys that age and she says it’s Danielles decision. Even though I have sources telling me she is pushed towards the older boys and people for likes and followers. I watch videos where Jen sits there while Danielle dances or is dressed provocatively and sees nothing wrong with it. But it’s not enough for YouTube or Instagram to take it down I guess.
I have also lost my patience with Danielle taking about my mother, her grandmother, acting as if she hates her. My parents took care of Danielle and Jen and chad more than her own family did for ten years and to treat her the way they have is unforgivable. Even when I would ask my mom not to help Jen she would help her costing her thousands of dollars. She had a rent free roof over her head for ten years. My mother recently had half her tongue cut out and part of her throat from cancer. She still can barely eat, and now battles for her life with lung cancer; she will never call her, unless it’s to yell at her. Danielle says she hates her because she’s tried to show her real age. She contacted target. She posted Danielle’s birth certificate because she was worried about her seeing older boys with her.
She then was threatened by jens mother Linda, and was called so many times by Danielle and Jen telling her to take it down just like bullies. Yet, they act like they are against bullies. They are the biggest bullies on the internet. When I asked Danielle to call my mom to talk to her after she was diagnosed with cancer she would not. After the birth certificate was published they never said anything nice to her, just harassed her to remove the post. She doesn’t hate her, she fears for her safety. This is the person you support online. How would you feel as a grandmother or as her father to watch this. She may be my daughter but she has been brainwashed and makes terrible decisions that I cannot change.
There is so much more but I’ll stop there. I appreciate and thank all the people who have sent me and heather messages because you are worried about my daughter. We have been too. Unfortunately no one cares. And while you all may not have seen outright that we have done things- we have tried to report and shut the inappropriateness down behind the scenes. Please realize I am probably not going to respond to you, I am a private person and never wanted to have to come out and make this kind of statement, but I have been forced to as I am tired of being bothered and disgusted for years. Heather keeps being texted and bothered to stop talking when all she’s done is defend us. The mental abuse and anguish this has caused me and what I have had to deal with for years is just not understandable to many. Please respect us and leave us alone.
I am losing the ability to walk due to a neuromuscular condition and learning to live with being disable, I have a new born baby, my mom has cancer again, I work full time and have side businesses while I deal with this drama and never get to see my daughter Danielle, because I won’t go along with the lies and am alienated for it.You can understand why social media is not my top priority. This is getting to be too much and I’m tired of them talking about my family with no one to defend themselves. In the end I want my daughter to be able to be herself. She is smart and has so much potential but the system has failed her. Capitol greed and people like Instagram and YouTube profit and look the other way. This has become the normal in today’s society and I’m paying the price for it.
She is truly 13 and you all have seen the real birth certificate. I don’t understand why being her age is so bad and doing age appropriate ads, acting, whatever would’ve been fine even though I never wanted that life for her. I truly worry about what has happened to Danielle’s money for her future, her safety, and why it took this long to be heard as a father!! I do want Danielle to be happy, but not at this cost. No 13 year old should be dancing in lingerie. Instagram should step up and take care of this. Danielle used to love being active, cheerleading, and school, but that’s all gone. There’s more to life than just going places to take cool pictures or dance in front of. I truly hope in the future she gets to truly experience life and have fun and not be caught up in a world of followers, fame, likes, and money. I hope one day she sees that I’ve only ever tried to protect her. I hope others around her wake up and realize it shouldn’t be about the money, but living life as a kid that she is.
The lengthy post went viral, especially because it seemed to confirm Danielle's age. However, Danielle disagreed with the post and responded on her own. She told Dustin that Jennifer is "twice the parent you could ever be."
"There is so much damage you have caused that I will never be able to forgive you," she wrote. "Like going to social media instead of personally reaching out to me ... You laid out lies and spoke about me as an enemy would ... But the fact is that you have lied about it all."
Danielle also accused her father of "causing so much pain" and asked that he stop dragging Jennifer's name "through the dirt."
"You keep telling people she forces me to do this and that; she does not force me to do anything that I do not want to do myself!" she said. "I have a mind of my own, I have set goals in my life and all I am doing is attaining them and because you are not part of it you want to sit here on social media and bash my mom!"
She ended the post saying "Time for you to go to rehab, you are completely delusional."
It was a very shocking post, but what's even more shocking was the revelation that she STOLE the response from an article on The Odyssey. When people started calling her out for plagiarizing, Danielle once again responded.
"Stop stop stop I have the best life and make my own decisions so tired of this bull crap," she replied to one commenter. "Listen to someone who had nothing to do with me and also took my mom to court before I was famous because he didn't want to pay child support."
Danielle has been doing online videos since she was 11, after recording herself on the app Musica.ly on her mom's phone. Since then she's become one of the more controversial social media stars, and that most people hate her because they're jealous.
"I feel I am targeted the most because of being so young, growing my following within a year, and having support from my family who allow me to live my dream," Danielle said. "It could be because a lot of my clothes are very revealing even though I don’t find it that bad. I think I’m targeted the most due to the fact that I grew very fast on Musical.ly and a lot of people are jealous of that,."
As for Danielle's mom, she wants to stop the rumors about her forcing Danielle to do this for the fame.
"I wish they would stop saying I'm living in my daughter...or living a dream I wanted," Jennifer said. "Me and my daughter are different. I'm shy; I've always wanted to be a teacher. I'm allowing her to do this because this is what makes her happy. I'd do anything for [my kids]."
I understand wanting to let your kids live their dreams, but at what point do you step in and be a parent? I believe her father when he says that she's too young for all of this.
