Tori Spelling defended posting a photo of her 7-year-old son giving her a massage in exchange for money after being mom-shamed online.
“So on my [Instagram] Stories recently, I posted what I thought was a very cute photo of my 7-year-old son Beau — pretending being the key word here — pretending to give me a massage,” Spelling began on Tuesday’s episode of her “misSPELLING” podcast.
“And then I said he wanted to make money for an allowance, and I thought this was a good way to start,” she continued. “[It] beats chores, something like that. I don’t know. Solid plan.”
In the photo, posted earlier this month, the “Beverly Hills, 90210” actress was seen lying face down on a massage table with her back and legs bare.
A pink blanket was placed on her backside as her son massaged her calves, with the caption, “Beau said he wanted to do chores in exchange for allowance… solid plan.”
However, Spelling clarified that it was just a joke after receiving backlash over the photo.
“All of a sudden, it exploded on the press scene,” she continued Tuesday.
Spelling denied reports that she “forced” Beau to do anything, explaining that he accompanied her to the massage parlor and then asked if he could give it a go.
“So [the massage therapist] took that one picture of Beau pretending to give me a massage,” she said. “And I just think it’s wild. It’s wild the stuff that you can put out there that they change the narrative on so hardcore.”
While Spelling wasn’t expecting such a negative response, she admitted one of her friends warned her the photo might not be well-received.
“I mean, as soon as I put it up, one of my best guy friends, he DM’d me and he was like, ‘That’s not a good look,’” she recalled. “And I’m like, ‘I know’ — like joking.”
“I’m like, ‘I know. He was getting all the wrong spots. Like, you should have started on the feet,”” she continued. “But he said, he’s like, ‘Oh my god. People are gonna freak out.’”
However, the “90210” star thought that everyone would know “it’s not real.”
“Clearly, we are not at home. I’m not making him do chores. Clearly, I’m at a massage parlor,’” she said of her thought process.
Even if it “were true,” Spelling questioned why people had such an issue with a child pampering their parent.
One of her “mom friends” affirmed her thinking, noting that it’s perfectly normal for kids to “walk on [their parents] back” or “rub [their] feet.”
Spelling also questioned why comedians with families “can post anything and people are like, ‘They are kidding. That’s funny ‘” — but the same can’t be said for other Hollywood stars.
“But if an actor posts something, they’re like, ‘Oh my god. That must be true. She’s a horrible mom,’” she went on. “And then I had another friend that was like, ‘Well, good news is you’re relevant. You’re in the press.’”
However, Spelling said she doesn’t need to be reminded in the headlines because she already has “such mom guilt anyway.”
“I don’t need people shaming me, thinking I’m forcing my kids to massage me,” she added. “Anyway.”
Beau is Spelling’s youngest child with estranged husband Dean McDermott. They also share son Liam, 17, daughter Stella, 16, daughter Hattie, 13, and son Finn, 12.
