Hannah Neeleman, owner of Ballerina Farm, responded to a controversial profile, calling it “an attack on my family and my marriage, portraying me as oppressed, with my husband being the culprit.”
Neeleman said, on the contrary, she is doing what she loves most, “being a mother, wife, a business woman, a farmer, a lover of Jesus and making meals from scratch.” She posted her response in a social media video .
The profile, published by the U.K.-based paper The Times, sparked controversy around Neeleman — a Utah business owner, wife, mother, Latter-day Saint, professional ballerina and Mrs. America — with some on social media saying she did not choose her lifestyle and that she was pressured to give up her dream of being a professional dancer. The article called her a tradwife, a label Neeleman herself rejects.
Neeleman said she thought the interview with the reporter went well, but was “taken back” and “shocked” by the article. As for the idea that Neeleman is oppressed? She said, “Nothing could be further from the truth.”