Disgraced Mommy Vlogger Ruby Franke’s Family Will Speak Out About “Nightmare” Abuse In New Hulu Doc ‘Devil In The Family’
Ruby Franke‘s husband and children are finally coming forward about their experience living with the convicted child abuser and her business partner in the new Hulu documentary series, Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke.
Ruby and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested in August 2023 for aggravated child abuse charges after Ruby’s 12-year-old son, who reportedly appeared “emaciated and malnourished” and in “severe” condition, ran to a neighbor’s home in search of food and water. Now, almost one year after Ruby was sentenced to prison, the Franke family will be publicly sharing their story for the very first time.
Deadline reports that the new Hulu doc will feature testimonies from Ruby’s husband, Kevin, who initially helped Ruby begin the popular YouTube page 8Passengers, as well as Ruby’s two oldest children, Shari and Chad. The three-part docuseries will also feature never-before-seen footage of the Franke family and accounts from their neighbors and friends.
“For years, the Frankes’ YouTube channel had documented a wholesome, happy family life, with 2.5 million subscribers tuning in at its peak,” a press release for the new documentary series reads, per People. “As the cracks began to show, the family turned to counselor Jodi Hildebrandt for guidance – and rapidly found themselves trapped in a nightmare.”
Shari celebrated her mother and Hildebrandt’s arrest with a statement after news broke, saying she has “been trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this, and so glad they finally decided to step up.”
Shari opened up about the abuse she and her siblings endured in her memoir The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom, in which she criticized family vlogging, which has become increasingly popular in the past decade.
“My biggest priority was just making sure that the kids were alive,” Shari said in a recent interview with People. “As long as they were alive, obviously then I knew eventually things would be okay.”
After the arrest, Ruby’s four minor children were taken in by the local Department of Child and Family Services. Kevin also filed for divorce.
Devil In The Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke premieres on Hulu Feb. 27.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic abuse, help is available. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788.
