In a recent interview with Good Morning America, Shari Franke — the eldest offspring of the controversial former Mormon mommy vlogger Ruby Franke — responded candidly to the abuse she alleges to have experienced under her mother’s authority, alongside her reflections on the peculiar dynamics between Ruby and her business associate, Utah-based life coach Jodi Hildebrandt.

Ruby Franke first garnered popularity in 2015 through her now-defunct YouTube channel 8 Passengers, wherein she chronicled her life raising six children while offering contentious parenting counsel. Her association with Hildebrandt, a former sex therapist and founder of the religious online platform ConneXions, commenced in 2019 through their mutual church affiliations. This partnership culminated dramatically in September 2023, with their arrest on charges of aggravated child abuse following a harrowing incident involving her malnourished son seeking aid from a neighbor. Following her mother’s arrest, Shari Franke expressed her relief on Instagram, revealing her long-standing attempts to alert authorities regarding the familial abuse.

Shari’s memoir, titled The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom, poignantly delineates her tumultuous relationship with Ruby. Shari recounts her childhood memories, fraught with physical confrontations that transitioned into psychological torment following Hildebrandt’s integration into their household. The psychological abuse she endured had far-reaching implications, affecting her profoundly.

In her gripping revelations, Shari expressed apprehension concerning her mother’s dual relationship with her life coach, positing that it deviated from the norm for a therapist to inhabit the domicile of a client. Her evolving dynamics within her family became increasingly complex as she sensed an unsettling nature to these relationships, encapsulating her turbulent upbringing.

In a court appearance last February, Ruby extended an apology to her children, stating, “I took from you all that was soft, and safe, and good.” Shari met this gesture with skepticism, asserting, “I think she’s as sorry as she can be … I don’t believe it, though.”