ABC ridiculed over segment on mom getting back-to-school Botox: ‘A whole new level of absurd’

‘It was like having an Instagram filter, without an Instagram filter,’ says mother of two

ABC’s Nightline recently aired a segment about a mother getting cosmetic injections for the back-to-school season, and it was quickly met with backlash.

In the segment that aired on 13 September, Jaclyn Walker - a 37-year-old mother of two - revealed to Nightline’s Janai Norman that while her children get back into their regular school routine, she gets into one of her own: Botox.

Walker explained why she’s added the cosmetic injections to her back-to-school prep. “For me… I want to make my daughters proud of me. I want them to be happy [and think] that my mom, she looks so pretty,” she said.

“It was like having an Instagram filter, without an Instagram filter,” Walker said about her Botox.

However, Walker isn’t the only parent primping themselves. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), there has been skyrocket in popularity among parents getting Botox around the end of the summer, just in time for the school year.

Plastic surgeons noted that numbers have specifically risen amongst mothers like Walker, who are often interacting with other parents. Dr Brian Glatt, a board-certified plastic surgeon, told Nightline: “Botox and injectable fillers have really become part of a regular beauty ritual for people.”

In the US alone, the ASPS revealed to Nightline that adults spend $2bn each year on Botox. In fact, there are as many as seven billion Botox procedures done annually. Although the practice is popular, it is far from the norm. Only about one per cent of the US population received Botox in 2020, and 82 per cent of those patients who underwent the procedure were white, the ASPS noted.

Dr Glatt stressed to Nightline that getting Botox shouldn’t be a decision made lightly, since there are numerous side effects. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), side effects of Botox can include double vision, and trouble speaking or swallowing. He also cautioned prospective patients to be wary of beauty deals that are too good to be true. “They’re medical procedures, and they need to be treated as such,” Glatt said.

“Eventually, I don’t think Botox is always going to work,” Walker admitted to Nightline towards the end of the segment. “I’m going to have to accept it. So I’ll embrace it when it comes.”

In the comment section of an Instagram video promoting the segment, viewers weren’t too impressed with Walker’s back-to-school routine. “This is just so silly!! So many more [important] stories out there and you choose THIS nonsense. I just don’t get it,” commented one user under Nightline’s Instagram post. Another person wrote that the story was “ridiculous,” while someone else added: “This is… a whole new level of absurd.”

Someone else expressed their disappointment in the segment when they wrote: “Seriously - wanting her kids to see a pretty mom in the pick up line! How about a smart, strong, sensitive - anything but just outward appearances.”

Others had a bone to pick with Nightline correspondent Janai Norman, one person writing: “Disappointed Janae - you’re a stronger journalist than this story.”

Someone else added: “This interview is beneath you, this feels like something for Inside Edition.”

The Independent has contacted ABC for comment.