Pageant Mom vs. DUI Dad: What's Best for the “Toddlers & Tiaras” Star?
Today, a judge is expected to decide which parent will be granted custody of a young beauty queen. Madisyn “Maddy” Verst sparked a controversy when the then-five-year-old appeared on TLC’s reality show, “Toddlers & Tiaras” recently in a Dolly Parton costume complete with added curves.
After the show aired, critics slammed the mother for sexualizing the young girl and now Maddy’s estranged father has petitioned the court for full custody of his daughter. Maddy’s mother claims her ex-husband is unfairly using Maddy’s participation in pageants to his advantage and she claims he’s a convicted felon that's on probation for a DUI and child endangerment, which hasn’t been verified.
The question that centers it all: What’s best for this child?
Jonna Spilbor and Joey Jackson joined America Live for today’s Kelly’s Court.
Spilbor says the court should let the estranged father “step up to the plate.”
“It’s beyond creepy
to put your little kid in boobs and a butt. It just really is. I’m glad this father is stepping up … Let a family court judge get involved and figure that out for us,” she said.
While Jackson doesn’t think it would be his first choice to put his daughter in pageants like those on the show, he points out that this is a totally acceptable form of entertainment in showcasing your child because there is nothing improper or illegal about it.
He said, “You have to look at custody as the totality of the circumstances. Maybe there’s this one thing that we don’t like about what the mother’s doing, but in whole she may be a terrific and wonderful mother.”
“She’s putting boobs on a baby!” Spilbor said. “Thank God he’s coming forward.”
Jackson added, “Why not let the child have fun?”
