A popular couple on TikTok has divided opinions after the husband complained that he had to celebrate his birthday and Father’s Day at the same time.
Husband and wife duo Matt and Abby Howard, who live in Arizona, have more than five million followers on their couple’s account, where they document the daily life of their relationship.
The couple, both 25, are high school sweethearts and share children, Griffin and August, after marrying in 2019 during their sophomore year of college.
But after a recent episode of his Unplanned podcastMatt came under fire from viewers after calling his 2023 Father’s Day celebrations, planned by Abby, “kind of a bummer.”
Abby said she had combined Matt’s birthday and Father’s Day holidays into one, reasoning that she was very pregnant at the time and that the couple had just returned from their ‘babymoon’ in Mexico.
Matt Howard, one half of the TikTok duo Matt and Abby, has come under fire for criticizing his wife’s preparations for Father’s Day.
Abby admitted she had ‘combined’ Father’s Day and Matt’s birthday celebrations into one in June last year.
Still, he invited his family to a barbecue and bought them a pie from Dairy Queen.
Speaking on the podcast in a clip that has racked up more than 10 million views, Abby explained: ‘We have decided as a family that we will not celebrate Father’s Day this year.
“Last year it was June 18, which is Matt’s birthday, so he had Father’s Day and his birthday on the same day and I will say I combined the holiday.”
Matt added: ‘You combined them both. It’s okay though. I mean you were pregnant, you were uncomfortable, you were close.
Abby then explained that she had still managed to make an effort for the occasion, despite her busy schedules.
She continued: ‘We had just returned from our honeymoon that day. I bought you a cake from DQ and invited our family to roast them.
Matt then chimed in: ‘Well, I did barbecue, but I know a lot of dads have barbecues on their birthday. But if.’
When Abby protested that in return she “raised his son, all day, every day,” Matt added: “You made my son grow up, but Father’s Day and my birthday were on the exact same day and it was a bit of a bummer.”
Abby said she had still managed to buy Matt a cake and arrange for his family to come, despite being pregnant and returning from vacation.
The couple said they are now “boycotting” Father’s Day and will instead celebrate it three months later.
Abby said, ‘I’m going to be honest with you, I failed you and I’m so sorry.’
They concluded the video by revealing that they are ‘boycotting’ Father’s Day in June and will instead celebrate it three months later, so Matt can have two separate celebrations.
But outraged fans weren’t pleased with the deal and called Matt “selfish” for his reaction to Abby’s efforts, especially considering she was pregnant at the time.
They wrote: ‘Matt is so selfish. Abby was pregnant, she had just returned from a vacation, she was still planning a barbecue celebration with cake…and she failed Matt? As? What a selfish human being Matt is. Wow’;
‘Is Matt a baby? Who still cares about birthdays at that age?
‘A DQ cake and a family barbecue afternoon sounds like a great day to me’;
Fans were outraged and called Matt “selfish” for his reaction to Abby’s efforts.
‘I failed you, I’m so sorry.’ And he didn’t correct her. She did NOT fail him’;
‘This is WILD’;
‘Why wouldn’t you combine them? These are two occasions where the same person is celebrated so surely one celebration is perfect?’;
‘I don’t see how it failed, it looks like you had a good celebration, what else did I expect?’
Matt and Abby have documented their relationship on TikTok throughout the pandemic, but fans have noticed increased tension between them since they welcomed their second child together.