In 2017, YouTube channel DaddyOFive was at the center of a child abuse case. The channel followed the Martin family, consisting of parents, Mike and Heather, Heather's 3 children, Jake, Ryan, and Alex, and Mike's two children, Cody and Emma. The family uploaded videos posing as a family vlogger/prank channel, but quickly came under fire for recording and posting their emotional and physical abuse of Cody and Emma. Instances of abuse included Cody being thrown into a bookcase by Mike, being repeatedly thrown and body slammed by older brother Jake at the urging of their father, Alex slapping Emma at the urging of Mike, Heather pulling Emma's hair, Cody being barred from a family vacation, and Cody and Emma being framed for various bad deeds and screamed at as a "prank." The videos resulted in Cody and Emma being removed from the Martin home and placed in emergency custody of their mother, Rose Hall. Mike and Heather were sentenced to 5 years of supervised probation for their abuse. DaddyOFive's channel was removed from YouTube for violating the platform's guidelines and policies. However, the family has never truly stopped trying to appear on social media in some form or another and still remain active on YouTube to this day.
The FamilyOFive And Martin Boys Comeback
Shortly following the scandal, the family came back to YouTube utilizing the rebranding of FamilyOFive. Less than a month after losing custody of their children and sobbing to their viewers in an apology video, they swiftly made their return to YouTube. In fact, they worked the loss of their two youngest children into the new family name - FamilyOFive. An associate channel, FamilyOFive Gaming, was also established, their website officiallyfamilyofive.com was put up, Heather debuted her Instagram account @MommyOFive, and even oldest son Jake came to Instagram with @officiallyjakemartin. By 2018 the FamilyOFive channel boasted a staggering nearly 2 million followers. Videos showed Mike exploiting his boys' relationships, going "psycho" over his video games, letting the boys wrestle to the point of getting hurt, stealing their phones to read their text messages, Alex destroying his room and video games, and the boys distressed and screaming at their dad to turn the camera off. FamilyOFive and FamilyOFive Gaming were officially terminated by YouTube on July 18, 2018. Jake and Heather's Instagram accounts were also disabled. In November of 2018, the family resurfaced on YouTube for a third time, this time under a channel titled The Martin Boys. The channel was advertised as a solo channel featuring just the boys and not featuring Mike or Heather.
The Martin Boys Turns Into The Martin Family
As one might have guessed, The Martin Boys was nothing but a scheme to get the Martins back on YouTube again. The boys posted a handful of solo videos, but on November 5, 2020, uploaded a vlog titled "Ryan Gives Away 900$! (Familyofive)". In the video, the boys addressed the fact that people were reuploading FamilyOFive videos and profiting off them. In a move to confirm that their channel was BOTH The Martin Boys official channel AND the FamilyOFive official channel, they indicated they would be reuploading old videos as well as putting out new content. The video was a full reupload of a FamilyOFive vlog that prominently featured Mike and Heather. Soon after, another video was posted featuring Mike and titled "Bring Back FamilyOFive," followed by another titled "Is Dad coming back?" This marked the shift from The Martin Boys turning into The Martin Family. The videos once again began to feature the whole family and by August 1, 2021, Mike wholly took over vlogging, with Mike and Heather opening up the vlogs and featuring their everyday life once more. It is unclear when the name change was made, but as of 2022 the channel is now titled The Martin Family. This marks DaddyOFive's fourth rebranding on YouTube.
FamilyOFive Makes Their Way To TikTok
Around the same time that their takeover of their sons' channel occurred, the Martin family also debuted their TikTok channel under the username officialmommyofive in June of 2021. While the channel is technically Heather's channel, it does frequently feature the entire family. Most the videos are unproblematic, largely featuring TikTok trends, footage of her family out to dinner, and posts dedicated to her family. However, Heather didn't wait long before she began addressing the CPS case against them. She began tagging many of her videos #babymommadrama and #lies, in reference to Mike's ex. On September 6, 2021, she posted a now-deleted video featuring Cody and Emma. While their faces were covered, it was quite clearly them. The video was a photo sequence of Heather posing with Cody and Emma, in an attempt to prove to her viewers that she's not a "wicked step-mother." On October 10, 2021, she directly addressed the abuse investigation, claiming that it was a lie that Cody and Emma were "taken" from her. She claimed Rose Hall abandoned Cody and Emma, returned when there was a prospect of money, and made up lies alongside various creators to get FamilyOFive's channel deleted. Heather has expressed determination in telling her side of the story and is set on denying all responsibility for their child abuse and slamming Cody and Heather's mother.
The Martin Family Has Another Child
While posting on their channel has been sporadic, the Martins' have used their TikTok and YouTube comeback to introduce a new member of their family. It unclear when Mikey was born, but the news of Heather's pregnancy was revealed in a reupload on the Martin Family channel titled "Mom's Pregnant." Heather officially introduced Mikey on TikTok on May 29, 2021, and he appears to now be around 2-3 years old. Since his introduction, he has figured prominently in MommyOFive's TikTok and on The Martin Family channel. Heather referred to him as her and Mike's "rainbow baby" born after years of trying.
Should FamilyOFive Be Allowed On YouTube and TikTok?
Since rebranding as The Martin Family and taking up TikTok, the family's content has not been too problematic. Recent videos on The Martin Family channel include Mike opening up about losing his grandmother, showing off Mikey's new toys, and decorating for Christmas. Heather's TikTok channel is a bit more problematic considering she is talking about the abuse case and making allegations against Cody and Emma and their mother. Regardless if their content is problematic or not, The Martin Family should NOT be on social media whatsoever. For one, their persistence on social media and on having a following illustrates the number of people who are openly willing to defend or overlook child abuse. Second, they have been removed from YouTube twice now and should remain off of it. They broke the rules and were terminated, yet, they have consistently ignored the fact that they violated YouTube guidelines and should face the consequences of their actions. The ability of The Martin Family to return again and again, tells others that they can violate YouTube guidelines, be terminated, and simply return to social media a month later. Lastly, Mike and Heather are liars who want to exploit their children for money. While they have consistently claimed that their children want to be YouTube stars - that is a lie. Mike and Heather want to be YouTube stars and even forced their boys to make a channel so that they could take it over and return to YouTube once more. They have used their children for views, money, and have even forced them to repeat lies about wanting to be YouTube stars and denying allegations of abuse. They have lied about Cody and Emma's mother and have slammed her openly on social media. Mike and Heather are fame-hungry individuals, who have no real talent or ability to succeed on YouTube, so they utilized their children, their abuse, and dysfunction to succeed instead. Their continued existence on social media illustrates how easy it is for influencers to bend the rules, share harmful views, break the law, and somehow still be guaranteed a platform.