Kiwi musician faces backlash from parents over viral screaming baby TikTok

The Auckland musician's video of a long-haul flight went viral and has been viewed over 14 million times. Photo / TikTok; Zachary Kadolph, Ryan Franco, Unsplash

A Kiwi musician is facing renewed backlash for “shaming” passengers with young children in a viral TikTok video.

Aucklander Henry Beasley found viral fame with a video from his “29-hour-flight” to Berlin, soundtracked by the piercing screams of a travelling baby.

Asking his audience to “rate my flight”, the Balu Brigada front man amassed some 14.4 million views.

Scoring the child’s “performance” 10/10, he said the “kid’s got some lungs.” Not everyone was impressed, however, calling the Kiwi singer “judgemental” and insensitive.

Having asked for feedback, Beasley got an earful.

Since first posting the clip last month, plenty of travellers have sided with the parents of the tantrum-throwing tot.

TikToker Lindsey Marie responded to the clip saying the parents travelling with the child were having it far worse.

“I know it sucks when there’s a screaming baby on a plane, but I promise you that no one is more miserable than the parent of that child right now, because they’re the ones who are having so much anxiety and stress that they can’t calm their baby down,” she said.

Before long the singer was in a pile on from the parents of TikTok.

“This is a you problem, not a them problem,” was the curt response from a parenting influencer, Earth and Pebble.

Although many of the comments sided with Beasley saying flights without screaming kids is something they would pay extra for, one TikToker flipped the debate for team baby.

“Please, pay extra for kids-free flights,” was the view of Bluehairedseminarian, saying it would make flights cheaper and more tolerant for travelling parents.

@bluehairedseminarian

#stitch with @balubrigada i would pay extra for a flight without ppl like this!!!!! 🥰

♬ original sound - mattie mae

“We can all just have a compassionate, kind, loving flight, without people who are judgmental and horrible toward these tiny human beings who have a right to public transportation,” she wrote.

The baby-free flight is a perennial travel controversy. Some airlines have experimented with baby-free cabin classes and charging passengers for “low noise” areas in seat selection, but those travelling with children see this as a cynical way for airlines to earn more while making them feel like second-class travellers. If a baby is going to cry, it’s going to cry and the whole cabin is in for the long haul.

Beasley saw the funny side of becoming a lightning rod for the travel debate.

In another video, the singer showed a screenshot of the articles, Beasley joked: “Me breaking my back for 10 years as a musician only to end up in ‘The Sun’ for a TikTok,” he wrote.

The Balu Brigada frontman was less philosophical in his solution to the babies on planes debate. He suggested noise cancelling headphones and one of his albums.