Ruby Franke’s daughter Shari Franke, did not have the best childhood even though she grew up as a child star. In fact, Shari will now tell anyone who is willing to listen that subjecting your child or family to vlogging for content is a terrible thing to do.
However, her sentiments are justified. Shari’s mother, Ruby Franke, is still serving time for her past deeds while her children, the ones who had to endure the cruelty of her actions firsthand, are still trying to move forward.
Ruby first entered the spotlight in 2015 with her husband, Kevin, and their kids, in tow. At the time, they were famous for starting the YouTube channel “8Passengers,” which documented the family’s lives to over 2 million subscribers. As time passed, viewers started to notice and raise concerns about Ruby’s extreme parenting methods and the troubling signs of child abuse.
Later on, Ruby partnered with Utah-based therapist Jodi Hildebrandt to continue advocating for strict parental discipline via an advice podcast. They were both arrested in August 2023 and charged with aggravated child abuse after Shari’s then 12-year-old brother Russell escaped their home and asked a neighbor to call the police.
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Police found two of Ruby’s children “emaciated and malnourished, with open wounds and duct tape around” their arms and legs. In February 2024, Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt were each sentenced to four consecutive prison terms of one to 15 years.
Shari Franke’s new memoir “The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom,” which was released this year and involves her reflecting on the abuse she experienced at the hands of her mom, Ruby Franke, is perhaps her final attempt to put it all behind her.
What You’ll Find Inside the New Memoir Ruby Franke’s Daughter Just Released
Ruby Franke’s daughter made some damning revelations in her recently released tell-all memoir. The memoir was released on January 7, 2025, and from its contents, it is obvious it could not have been easy to dredge up all the details.
The book contains Shari’s side of the story, a retelling of the Ruby Franke story from her perspective, and an attempt to highlight the dangers of family vlogging. “I’ve witnessed the damage of what happens when your life is put online,” she said. “There’s no ethical way to do it.”
Ahead of the release of her memoir this month, Shari revealed that the abuse extended as far back as their “8Passengers” vlogging days, even before Ruby crossed paths with Jodi.
“She’d always say that she wanted to be a good mom,” Shari said. “That was what she always told us, and I think that she wanted to force her kids to also think that she was a good mom. She couldn’t handle anybody disagreeing with her.”
According to Ruby Franke’s daughter Shari, her discomfort with being filmed as a child grew as time went on. It climaxed when she was 18 and had to put her foot down about being filmed while bra shopping.
“It was the first time that I was like, ‘Oh, this is kind of weird and inappropriate, and I’m not okay with that,'” she said. “Looking back, I could see how all of my embarrassing moments as a teenager, I was coerced to post those. And that wasn’t me actually understanding the full consequences that that would have.”
What Happened to Ruby Franke’s Daughter?
Shari Franke is Ruby Franke’s eldest daughter. Of course, that did not stop her from disowning and cutting off communication when she left for college. She had flown the coop successfully and was out of her mom’s reach. But Shari continued to worry for the safety of her siblings who remained in the house.
She allegedly went as far as calling the Utah Division of Child and Family Services. But they took no further action after a welfare check. “My biggest priority was just making sure that the kids were alive,” Shari told PEOPLE. “As long as they were alive, obviously, then I knew eventually things would be okay.”
What Is Ruby Franke’s Oldest Daughter Doing Now?
Ruby Franke’s daughter, Shari, is now focusing on living her life. She no longer has any interest in reconnecting with Ruby as she no longer regards her as a mother.
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“She’s very selective in what she’s remorseful about. And I don’t think that she’ll ever fully recover until she can look at everything that’s happened,” Shari has said. “Part of me feels guilty if I don’t forgive. But I’ve come to realize that forgiveness for me just means that I don’t let her actions consume my thoughts.”
She also said, “I’m still angry about what she did, of course, and that’s never going to go away. But I am living my life, and I am not letting her take any more of that from me than she’s already taken.”
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