Over the weekend, a woman who went by “BlueStarNavyMom3” tweeted a photo of a smiling, good-looking young man in a Navy uniform, posing for the camera. “This is MY son,” she wrote.
“He graduated #1 in boot camp,” she continued. “He was awarded the USO award. He was #1 in A school. He is a gentleman who respects women. He won’t go on solo dates due to the current climate of false sexual accusations by radical feminists with an axe to grind. I VOTE #HimToo.”
By Monday afternoon, the tweet had gone full-blown viral, with The Ratio out of control and many people mocking both the tweet and the apparent fragile masculinity of the sailor in the photo.
But there was just one problem. The mother had apparently been consuming too much Fox News, because the man in the photo—who has now been identified as 32-year-old Pieter Hanson—is indeed a Navy veteran but had been horrifyingly misrepresented in his mother’s tweet.
Late Monday night, Hanson created his own Twitter account to clarify that the woman who posted his photo on Twitter was his mother, however, he is in no way affiliated with the #HimToo movement and that he believes and supports women.
That was my Mom. Sometimes the people we love do things that hurt us without realizing it. Let’s turn this around. I respect and #BelieveWomen . I never have and never will support #HimToo . I’m a proud Navy vet, Cat Dad and Ally. Also, Twitter, your meme game is on point. pic.twitter.com/yZFkEjyB6L
— Pieter Hanson (@Thatwasmymom) October 9, 2018
“Also, Twitter, your meme game is on point,” Hanson added, because in addition to his mother making him go viral, he had also become a full-blown meme.
“This is MY son,” users wrote on Twitter, accompanied by mostly pop culture-related images such as Guy Fieri, SpongeBob and Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense, and Buster Bluth from Arrested Development.
This is MY son. He graduated #1 from the University of Flavortown. He was awarded three banging fajita poppers. He was #1 in flamin' hot crunch. He won't go on solo dates due to the current climate of false accusations of taking the last slice of pizza. I VOTE. #HimToo pic.twitter.com/4DY151a2W7
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) October 9, 2018
https://twitter.com/fawfulator/status/1049419793219096577
https://twitter.com/sahluwal/status/1049452268884393984
https://twitter.com/DanaSchwartzzz/status/1049433212835966976
This is MY son. He graduated #1 in his class at time travel school. He received an award thanks to his flux capacitor. He is a gentleman capable of going 88 miles per hour. He won't go on solo dates because his mother made a pass at him at prom. I VOTE. #HimToo pic.twitter.com/EKTIVDeVHD
— Nina Bargiel, probably (@slackmistress) October 9, 2018
This is my son. He was #1 on the charts. He won’t go on solo dates even though he never gave up, let you down, run around, or deserted you, make you cry, say goodbye, tell a lie nor hurt you #HimToo pic.twitter.com/Q5sMpGIVR3
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) October 8, 2018
And of course, someone made one out of Donald Trump Jr.
https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1049459471368548357
It just goes on and on…
This is my son, processing his reaction to being told what his next trip to the vet will entail. He will no longer go on dates, because, well. #HimToo pic.twitter.com/YNERn94mGP
— John Scalzi (@scalzi) October 8, 2018
This is my son, the Titan Cronus. He castrated me with a sickle and threw my testicles into the sea. He won’t go on solo dates anymore as it is prophesied that he will be overthrown by his own son, just as he overthrew me. I VOTE. #HimToo pic.twitter.com/Ql9NaVyOlW
— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) October 9, 2018
This is MY son. He graduated #1 in boot camp. He was #1 in A school. He is a gentleman who respects women. He won't go on solo dates due to the current climate of false sexual accusations by radical feminists with an axe to grind. I VOTE. #HimToo pic.twitter.com/u7p2sUPYe0
— Florida Man (@_FloridaMan) October 9, 2018
Reynolds has since deleted her tweet at the behest of her son, and now apparently is claiming that her account was hacked according to tweets from Hanson’s brother.
My brother is trending on twitter because of my moms ridiculous tweet. I’m a mixture of laughing hard and feeling bad for him. #HimToo pic.twitter.com/YG93x9ikii
— Jon Hanson (@DancinJonHanson) October 9, 2018
She claimed her account was hacked and she didn’t tweet that. I don’t believe that for a second. She said she is calling the police ….
— Jon Hanson (@DancinJonHanson) October 9, 2018
Hanson, who is currently studying entrepreneurship at the University of Central Florida, told the Washington Post that he was confused by his mother’s tweet because she had always seemed progressive to him and his brother growing up.
When you take an overbearing mother and then factor in this crazy divided political landscape, however, anything goes. Either way, it doesn’t sound like Hanson seems like the kind of guy who needs help from his mom getting dates.