Howie the Crab's Mom Responds To Gene Simmons' Mean Comments!

"Funny and mean are two separate things."

TikTok famous Howie the Crab's mom, Laura Porter, was recently made aware of some hurtful things said about her by singer Gene Simmons on a recent podcast episode of "KISS and Tell with Gene & Nick Simmons."

Porter took to social media and talked to The Blast exclusively about the unfortunate situation.

Porter, known for her uplifting, entertaining, and educational social media content, received a shocking message on Instagram yesterday alerting her of being mentioned on Simmons' recent podcast.

"A fan sent me a private message last night on Instagram.  Someone whom I had never spoken with before. They said 'Sorry to bother you. But your clip of Howie was played on YMH.' There weren't any links so I had to go look for it.  I looked up their latest podcast on YouTube. I skimmed through it looking for images from my own videos and I was able to find it.  I nervously hit the play button and watched. I know that my content receives a lot of criticism," she told The Blast exclusively.

"I was not expecting Gene Simmons to comment about my mental health. I found that to be mean and not funny. This clip was made for my fans, and yes my commentary was a lighthearted joke. Before I posted about his comment, I asked other creators what they thought and questioned if I was wrong in how I took this.  The consensus was that attacking someone's mental health is a line that most decent people do not cross. It indeed was bullying."

At the 1:59 mark of the podcast shared on YouTube, one of Porter's video clips can be seen. Simmons and others on the podcast then began discussing Howie and the singer sarcastically said, "she has no problem, mental or otherwise" about Porter.

In addition to that being said, Porter doesn't want new followers to "stumble across" her videos blindly and see Simmons' criticism as their first impression.

"While I have close to 1.5 million followers across social media, many people have yet to stumble across my videos and may not know who I am or what kind of work I do with my platforms. I do not want Gene Simmons's criticism to be my first impression," she explained. "My fans know that my social media is about kindness and loving animals. Yes, it is strange to some, many people enjoy my humorous wholesome content.  The way I treat my pets is sweet and silly which is why so many people tune in."

Porter said she's never been a fan of Simmons, but at the same time has never spoken ill of him. And it's a mystery how she even entered the chat during the podcast.

"This podcast has nearly two million subscribers and Gene Simmons is a celebrity. I don't know why I came up in conversation or how they got my videos because they are not available without a limited license agreement. It was taken and used without my permission. Taking one piece of my entire story and posting it with the intent to make fun of me was uncalled for," Porter told The Blast.

"Unfortunately, we live in a world that supports bullying, especially online. I don't see humor in podcasts that talk about and belittle others. Funny and mean are two separate things and too often those lines are blurred because we have normalized this type of behavior in society. I am not a humorless person, but I believe mental health should never be the punchline."

Porter's main objective as a content creator is to bring awareness to treating all animals with kindness, as well as entertaining people of all ages with "wholesome content."

"As I told my followers, 'If being kind to animals and making sweet wholesome content is wrong, then I don't want to be right,'" she said. " For anyone who doesn't follow me, I encourage you to get context by watching my content and if it's not something you like, it's okay to keep scrolling and I completely understand."

The ultimate lesson Porter wants people to take away from this experience is to speak up against bullying and teach the next generation that it's not right to tell someone to "lighten up, ignore it, it's fine, you're being sensitive."

"Instead of ignoring this behavior, we should work harder to make people accountable for their words and actions and make the world a kinder place," she said. "The easiest thing to do to discourage online bullying is not to like, subscribe, watch, or interact with podcasts and content that supports it. Do your best not to create a 'market' for it."

Porter shared the podcast information on her Facebook page and her followers dropped into the comments to share their thoughts on it.

She also added a comment with the link to the podcast for anyone who wants to see the clip Simmons was talking about.

"I get what I do is odd and that many people bully me. This video was for my fans and my commentary is always meant to be light-hearted humor...but I am not mentally unstable. If being kind to animals and making sweet wholesome content is wrong, then I don't want to be right. It would have taken them 2 minutes to look me up to find out that I advocate for crabs, animals, and the earth,

" she wrote, just before sharing the link to the podcast episode.

One follower shared, "Don't know what he said, but hopefully it drew more people to your account to check it out and see how great it is."

Another added, "The entire podcast is just making fun of different people and things. They're not even original enough to come up with content that isn't just bullying.

We love you Laura and we love Howie!"

Many others reminded Porter that they love her content and have learned a lot from her.

"I've learned a lot, especially watching this last Molt. Things I never knew. I enjoy the vids," one follower wrote.

Another shared, "I enjoy the videos because I've learned so much and I love how Howie responds. I also love reptiles and see the hate our local rescue goes through advocating for them and trying to get donations. I wouldn't be offended if he is known to run his mouth. A lot. I talk to my dog and my houseplants.... and my garden plants in the summer. You do you! We love your content."

Porter had one final thought for all the loyal followers she's gained by sharing Howie's life online.

"I want to thank all of my followers for the love and support they give me every day," she said. "I am so proud of the community Howie has helped me create. They continually encourage me to keep going with my mission to educate and advocate for crabs, animals, and the earth."