During her Jan. 8 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live last year, The Big Bang Theory star revealed that she and her partner, Tom Pelphrey, were nervous about traveling with baby Matilda. “We were very terrified,” she admitted. “I thought, ‘What do we do?’ We have to bring her sound machine on the plane. It’s the only thing she can go to sleep to.”
As expected, the flight didn’t go smoothly. Matilda cried, finally dozing off in Tom’s arms as the sound machine worked its magic. But just as the exhausted parents started to relax, an unwelcome request came their way. “The steward comes over and says, ‘Hey, one of the passengers would love if you would turn the sound machine off,’” Kaley recalled. “I was just sitting there. I couldn’t believe, by the way, she asked us to turn it off. We were so angry.”
And then, things escalated.
The passenger who had complained was seated in front of them. As she turned around, she looked at Matilda and said, “Oh, so your daughter does know how to smile!” That was the breaking point for Kaley. “It was in that moment I understood why women end up on Dateline,” she joked. “I could have strangled her… I could have thrown that woman off the plane.”
Kaley isn’t the first celebrity to speak out about being mom-shamed, but she didn’t hold back. “I feel like everyone judges what you do with your kid,” she said. And for those wondering if she follows any traditional parenting guides? Not a chance. “I didn’t read a single book. I don’t think I’ve sanitized. I don’t even know if I know how to sanitize something.”
Since welcoming Matilda in March 2023, Kaley has embraced a more laid-back approach to motherhood. She and Tom, known for their sweet social media posts about their daughter, have often shared how they’re figuring things out as they go. But as her in-flight experience proved, not everyone approves.
Parenting in public, especially as a celebrity, invites opinions from strangers. Whether it’s a sound machine on a plane or a parenting style that doesn’t fit the “perfect” mold, mom-shaming remains a frustrating reality. Kaley handled it with humor — this time. But her story is one that many parents can relate to: sometimes, the real turbulence doesn’t come from the flight.
