Hawaii father throws 7yo off cliff, criticizes concerned commentors for staying in their comfort zone

Garette Gee was once known as the Hawaii YouTuber adventurer dad of The Bucket List Family — an influencer who traveled the world exploring and enjoying the glorious ecological diversity our planet has to offer. But as of July 2025, one viral Instagram post of him throwing his son off a cliff into a lake introduced him to a whole new outraged audience as an irresponsible father — and now he’s responded, though not everyone is going to like how he addressed their outrage.

The Instagram post is still up on his page and has now amassed about 105,000 likes from the 5.3M views it has gotten worldwide — so at least some people seem okay with what he did. In the clip, he gives his reportedly 7-year-old son a pep talk before ultimately tossing him into Lake Powell. The video sparked massive criticism, but Gee had somewhat preempted all of it, carefully explaining in the caption that the only reason he tossed his son himself was out of safety concerns about him hitting the cliff if he jumped on his own. Which sounds fair — we’ve certainly seen worse parenting this year.

Gee assured followers that his son actually did want to jump. In a sit-down with People, he expressed understanding for those first encountering his content through this video. While it may look like he was pushing his son too much, he insisted that he and his wife are actually very “thoughtful and cautious.”

Gee added, “A small part of me felt sad when I would read the comments because you could tell how many people out there didn’t have the opportunity to be pushed by their parents to try new things and stayed within their comfort zone.” He advised parents terrified by the video that living life in fear is not the best way to live at all. He even said he would love to go on an adventure with those most frightened by the clip.

Influencers these days inspire lifelong devotion, with fans often finding unique ways to celebrate what their lives have meant to them. So it wouldn’t be surprising if Gee and his wife Jessica actually gained new fans from these controversial videos. They’ve done much scarier stuff than cliff diving — across their travels to over 100 countries, the family has gone sledding in Italy, scuba diving in Tonga, and other hair-raising adventures. And even if something were to go wrong, Hannah Moody’s case alone shows that true enthusiasts of this lifestyle still find ways to celebrate them.

Gee and his family made their wealth in 2015 when they sold an app to Snapchat for $54 million, and they’ve been on the road ever since. They describe themselves as travel journalists, and between their social media presence, their YouTube channel, and now an upcoming book, it’s hard to deny that status. Some of us can’t imagine living that lifestyle, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a bad thing.

Gee’s book The Bucket List Family and the Big Adventure, published by National Geographic, will hit shelves on Oct. 28. If you’re curious about their family life, that’s where you’ll find the answers.