‘Clean up after your own kids!’ Anthony Bass told his wife was responsible for kids’ United Airlines mess

Sydney Rae Bass, the influencer wife of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass and sister of country superstar Jessie James Decker, isn’t getting the outpouring of sympathy she thinks she deserves for a recent situation she says she endured while flying on United Airlines with her young children.

In fact, the MLB star and and his equally famous sister-in-law sparked a fierce Twitter debate about parenting, personal accountability and celebrity entitlement when they took to social media to complain that Sydney Rae Bass, 22 weeks pregnant, was “humiliated” when a flight attendant asked her to clean up the popcorn that her daughters, 2 and 5, had spilled in the plane’s aisle.

In a since-expired Instagram story, Decker told a dramatic tale of her sister, dealing with a high-risk pregnancy and traveling “alone with her two small children,” People reported. Decker described a domineering flight attendant approaching the harried mother of with a trash bag and telling her that the captain wants her to  “clean up every drop.”

Decker then said her sister was forced onto her “hands and knees” to clean up the mess. She was “completely humiliated and exhausted with her children while everyone else watched. Way to go, United.”

Anthony Bass also expressed outrage about the “hands and knees” detail of his wife’s alleged ordeal, while sharing a photo of his daughters, Blaire, 2, and Brooklyn Rae, 5, glued to some screens — with their popcorn mess spread out below.

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?!?! pic.twitter.com/vLYyLyJC54

— Anthony Bass (@AnthonyBass52) April 16, 2023

Meanwhile, Sydney Rae Bass responded to the brouhaha in a cheeky way, by posting a photo of her younger daughter holding a bag of popcorn. It’s noteworthy that the lifestyle influencer, with 1 million followers, limited the comments, as one can do on Instagram.

It’s very likely that that Decker and Anthony Bass are surprised that they didn’t win universal support for Sydney Rae’s plight. Indeed, Bass essentially faced a Twitter pile-on Monday night and Tuesday, with many of those thousands of replies coming from people who say parents are generally responsible for cleaning up their children’s messes in public places.

Early in the pile-on, someone garnered more than 77,000 likes by tweeting at Bass: “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.”

Bass shot back: “The cleaning crew they hire!”

The cleaning crew they hire!

— Anthony Bass (@AnthonyBass52) April 16, 2023

There was some discussion about whether low-paid flight attendants are left to clean up passengers’ messes after a flight, or whether a special cleaning crew has that responsibility. Some expressed outrage and “disgust” that a 22-week pregnant woman had to get down on her hands and knees, or that the captain and flight attendant apparently didn’t realize that cleaning up passengers’ spills is the “cost of doing business.” 

As of Tuesday morning, United Airlines had not responded to People’s request for comment. But the airline’s Twitter account posted a message to Anthony Bass, asking to connect with his wife so that the company could get more information.

Meanwhile, people told Anthony Bass various other ways that he and his wife are irresponsible,  entitled celebrity parents. They also noted that Sydney Rae Bass and her children probably brought the popcorn on the flight and then went about creating a mess.

“Just because you’re rich doesn’t mean everyone is your servant,” one person said, while another replied: “I have three kids, just flew coach 12 hours, and was able to clean up after them — for every mess. It’s called parenting. Do you expect park janitors to clean up after your pet? No. Your child, your responsibility.”

A woman also posted a photo of herself trying to manage two small children and luggage at the airport, while insisting that she always cleans up after her children:

As someone who has definitely traveled with two small kiddos cross country by myself before…the rule is clean up after your own gremlins. pic.twitter.com/3aWHfOWJvm

— Tiffany Bond (@TiffanyBond) April 17, 2023

People suggested that the flight attendant probably would have helped Sydney Rae Bass if she had asked nicely for assistance or said that her pregnancy made it difficult for her to do certain menial tasks. However, others insisted that pregnancy isn’t “an illness” that makes a woman “an invalid.”

People also said the mother could have used the situation as teachable moment, role modeling how to take personal responsibility and that it’s not polite to throw food around. They also said Sydney Rae Bass could have gotten at least her 5-year-old involved in picking up the popcorn so that she could learn how to pick up after herself.

“I have 3 kids myself,” one woman wrote. “I know they make messes. … The mom should have enlisted the kids to help her clean up their mess.”

“A 5 yr old can pick up popcorn off the floor,” another person said. “I’ve made it happen.”

Finally, a fair number of people praised the flight attendant for telling the pro athlete’s wife to clean up her kids’ messes, saying the attendant deserved a raise or a day off. One person said: “Won’t lie, the fact that the flight attendant had the guts to make the passenger clean up their own MESS kinda makes me wanna fly United more.”