The Kyte Baby controversy, explained

In January of 2024, niche infant apparel brand Kyte Baby had a very bad couple of days.

Kyte Baby – which is a company that makes clothes for babies and not, as most people probably assumed, an ill-advised sequel to Balloon Boy – became the wrong kind of famous following a high-profile standoff with an employee regarding the company’s maternity leave policy.

Why did the Kyte Baby CEO apologize on TikTok – twice?

In many ways, the Kyte Baby controversy is a battle between the two immutable forces in the universe: Managers, and the mothers who would like a word with them.

In December of 2023, Kyte Baby employee Marissa Hughes adopted a newborn struggling with health complications. She requested time off to be with the newborn, who was being cared for in an ICU nine hours from Hughes’ home, and was granted two weeks to work remotely. According to Hughes’ recollection of events, she was frustrated by the company’s unwillingness to allow her the more extensive leave that her co-workers going through biological parenthood were given. In response, she was told that she would need to return to working in person in two weeks, or else forgo her employment with Kyte Baby.

And forgo her employment she did. Hughes reportedly left the company, then took to a  GoFundMe page that she’d set up in March of 2023 in order to secure funds for a potential future adoption. She shared details of her work situation on the page, drumming up a tidal wave of support. The story struck a nerve and soon went viral, rocketing charitable contributions to almost double their goal of $50,000, and accruing hundreds of new donations in a matter of days. As the Hughes family’s tale spread, TikTok moms started throwing around words like “boycott Kyte Baby” and “set all of these Kyte Baby onesies on fire” and “we know you’re excited, but for the love of God, make sure you take the babies out of the Kyte Baby onesies first.”

As the fervor boiled, it became clear that something would have to be done if Kyte Baby wanted to stay on the right side of outrage. On Thursday, January 18, the company’s CEO and founder, Ying Liu, posted the first of two (so far!) apology videos to the company’s TikTok account. Expressing remorse for the way that Marissa Hughes’ situation had been handled, she touted Kyte Baby as a “family-oriented company.” Dragged for sounding scripted and insincere, she then posted a second video, apologizing for being scripted and insincere. She went on to promise that the company’s policies regarding maternity leave would be looked at closely.