Hulu released a new docuseries titled “Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke,” a tell-all of an abusive mother who ran the YouTube family vlog channel “8 Passengers.”

“8 Passengers,” which grew to 2.5 million subscribers during the 2010s, showed off a loving Utah family, together and full of joy. Audiences all over the world got to look into the everyday lives of each family member. Ruby Franke, who ran the channel, often showed it from her viewpoint and controlled the narrative through what she told and showed the audience. This led to the cultivation of the idea that she was “America’s Mom.”

What audience members didn’t know was that Franke could be cruel behind closed doors. In August 2023, news broke of her and Jodi Hildebrandt’s arrests after four of the six children were found abused and malnourished. Both women plead guilty to child abuse charges.

“Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke” follows Franke’s journey from the start of their channel in 2015, experiencing virality as a family and its succeeding lifestyle changes. The series tells of a shift for them after a whistle-blowing moment where one of the children had mentioned in a vlog that their bedroom was taken away for months as a punishment. The internet audience grew suspicious, and according to multiple news sources, the pattern of abuse worsened over the years, hitting a peak after getting involved with Hildebrant. 

Hildebrant, a therapist who surrendered her license, led a program called ConneXions, a service rooted in family counseling. Ruby turned to ConneXions and Hildebrandt for parenting advice. Hildebrandt became the therapist of some members of the Franke family, but as Hildebrandt and Ruby’s relationship grew, Hildebrandt brought Ruby on her ConneXions team as co-founder. 

As her involvement with ConneXions grew, Ruby’s posts online became more problematic. The online audience grew to be deeply concerned about Ruby’s harsh parenting style and the state of the Franke family. The audience only became aware of the full severity of the abuse after one of her children, only 12-years-old, fled Hildebrandt’s home in an emaciated state, asking a neighbor for help.

This docuseries is seen through the lens of never-seen-before footage and private interviews with those closest to Franke, including her now ex-husband Kevin Franke, and their two eldest children, 21-year-old Shari Franke, and 20-year-old Chad Franke. The youngest four children remain uninvolved from the series, keeping them unnamed with their faces blurred, in order to protect their privacy.

After hearing about Shari and Chad’s experience of being on a platform at a young age and having their childhood turn into a business, the series hopes to raise awareness about the dangers of family vloggers and bloggers, and the risk of sharing your family and child’s life on the internet.

Shari Franke, who is now a #1 New York Times best-selling author for her book titled “The House of my Mother,” now advocates for protecting children who may find themselves in similar situations that she was raised in. She helped draft HB322, a bill that would protect child influencers in the state of Utah. It passed unanimously in the Senate on March 7 and now awaits the governor’s signature.

She also further advocates her point, and recently shared her engagement announcement, asking for her privacy to be respected as she will not be posting about her future husband and children. She requested via Instagram, “I’ve had my voice and agency taken for so long, and now, I’m putting my foot down.” She continued, “I’ll continue to advocate for kids who didn’t have a voice,” and concluded, “This is my wish, and my gift to my family.”

“Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke” is now available and streaming, only on Hulu.

 

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