Instagram influencer Ali Tate Culter is facing mixed reactions to content she posted with her grandmother who recently chose euthanasia after a terminal diagnosis.
Earlier this week, Ali posted a get-ready-with-me style transition Reel with her grandmother.
“My grandmother has chosen Euthanasia after her terminal diagnosis so this is the last time I can take her out to dinner,” she wrote over the video.
In the caption, Ali said she had “many emotions” but was focusing on making the week as memorable as possible. She followed this up by doing a Q&A video alongside her grandmother about her decision.
Shortly after, the videos were posted to Twitter by writer Evie Solheim who criticised Ali for “making cutesy videos” about her grandmother’s choice.
The tweet reached over 20 million views in a matter of days, with some users claiming that Ali was exploiting her grandmother’s difficult decision for views.
This has led to intense debate online about how Western culture has stigmatised death, as well as discourse about assisted dying and its policies.
In opposition to the backlash, many people have welcomed Ali’s transparency and believe her videos will help those struggling with grief, loss, and decisions of this nature.
“Instead of being angry at a granddaughter coping with a decision her grandmother made, how about directing that anger towards governments who try to use MAiD as the only option for disabled people instead of giving them the necessary resources and treatments to survive, okay?” wrote disability activist Nila Morton.
Others have noted that Solheim’s tweet did not include Ali’s full videos (just screenshots) and therefore the 20+ million people who have seen it will be missing important context.
“By just tweeting screenshots and not the actual videos, people will miss how touching and thoughtful these videos are,” wrote journalist Yashar Ali. “You may not agree with a person who has a terminal disease choosing to leave before they suffer too much, but she isn’t trivializing her grandmother’s decision.”
Ali herself expressed the complexities of her feelings about her grandmother’s decision in the caption of their Q&A video.
“TBH, I was very resistant to euthanasia before she told me her decision. It felt unethical to me,” Ali wrote. “But I have had my mind changed after hearing her reasons and I’m so happy that she has the option available in Canada. How to live well and die well are codes, and she has given me knowledge on both.”
Ali has kept the content up on her Instagram page and her story continues to touch millions as her videos reach new audiences.
With the outpouring of support from the wider social media community, we hope that Ali is feeling the love during this time.