Ruby Franke is an American YouTuber who runs the channel, 8 Passengers, featuring herself, her husband Kevin, and their six children Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell and Eve. They had become very popular within a short period of time because of their family vlogs, living as religious Mormons in Utah, but it all fell apart quickly after Ruby and Kevin were accused of child abuse by viewers and had visits from child protective services.
Career
Ruby Franke, who has a large but closely knit family, created her YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, in January 2015 in order to celebrate her family through her videos. The channel was initially focused on her youngest daughter Eve and its first video, titled The Making of Eve, posted on January 8, 2015, showcased how the rest of the family got along with her. They quickly gained millions of followers on the platforms thanks to her family vlogs that were entertaining for a large audience. However, the channel went on a downward spiral after Ruby became entangled in various controversies.
Controversy
In May 2020, Ruby Franke and her husband found themselves in trouble due to child abuse allegations after their eldest son Chad mentioned sleeping on a beanbag on the floor for seven months as a punishment for pranking his brother. The parents also allowed kindergartner Eve go without lunch an entire day as a punishment for forgetting her lunch at home.
CPS investigators were called to their house after viewers started a change.org petition against them. Following the uproar, Ruby and Kevin told Insider that the clips were taken out of context. Ruby tried to make a comeback on YouTube following the controversy, but the channel had increasingly slow updates as she became involved with the group called ConneXions, a parent coaching platform run by Jodi Hildebrandt. It has been described as a cult for its controversial policies and had its license put on probation for 18 months following complaints from past clients. Nevertheless, Ruby became a permanent member and partner at ConneXions in 2022 and announced that she was leaving YouTube. With Jodi, she went on to host the Tactics of Deception YouTube series which preached that in order to “live in truth”, you must love the group’s principles more than your own children. Ruby courted fresh criticism after stating in a ConneXions video that she was giving her children the “gift of truth” instead of Christmas presents because the kids had become “selfish”.
Family Life
Ruby Franke was born to Chad and Jennifer Griffith. She is married to Kevin Franke, who is an assistant professor of civil engineering at Brigham Young University. The couple has six children named Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell and Eve. Her extreme views, especially after she began her association with ConneXions, caused a rift in the family as her daughter Shari chose to detach herself from her parents. She opened up about her experiences during an interview on the Into the Light podcast in early 2023.
