Having a viral star in the household can be tough, but for mother Ariel Griggs, it’s manageable. Mostly because her son, 22 month old Ashton Howell AKA ‘Honey Bun Baby’, is too young to be much of a diva. Or at least more of a diva than any two year old can be. In interview with AL.com, the mother of the viral meme baby revealed she didn’t even know where the photos were coming from when the meme first went viral.
She originally considered reporting the photos and having them taken down since she didn’t know where they were coming from, but quickly realized the internet tidal wave that is a meme cannot be stopped. Turns out, the photos were taken and released by her 18 year old brother, who is a student at UC Berkeley. The mother suspects her brother was using the photos of her cute son to get his Instagram following up, but according to her, “he hasn’t admitted it, yet.”
Griggs, who lives in Alabama, says that she’s not trying to capitalize of her son’s newfound fame. “He is a child,” she says, “I want to keep his lifestyle. I know this may be too far-fetched to think, but I don’t want him to be like one of those kid stars who become horrible adults.” She’s content to let things ride for now, although she isn’t too hyped on the more raunchy takes on her son’s photo. “The last couple memes I’ve seen, they’ve been a little X-rated. I don’t want people looking at my baby’s picture and thinking of stuff like that!” We think it’s a bit too late for that.