'Home Town' Fans Reach out With Support After Trolls Target Erin Napier's Daughter With 'Cruel Comments'

Home Town fans are supporting Erin Napier after the HGTV star deleted a photo of her 3-year-old daughter, Helen, on Instagram after receiving negative comments. The photo was only up for moments before it was pulled, but it was just long enough for trolls to start commenting on Helen's haircut and the family's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Napier later told fans Thursday such negativity was not welcome on her social media accounts.

Napier, who hosts Home Town with husband Ben Napier, shared a photo of the HGTV crew she sees almost every day during filming. She said the couple feels there is "some value" in sharing a look at their off-set lives as public figures, but there is a "fine line" between preserving her privacy and helping others by sharing vulnerable aspects of their lives. But on Thursday night, she saw "cruel comments" on a photo of Helen within moments of publishing it. The photo did not show Helen's face, which they never show "because of vicious strangers who lurk and comment or could seek her out."

The negative comments focused on Helen's hair and how the Napiers are responding to the pandemic. Napier noted that fans are only seeing a small part of their lives. "As if from a tiny vignette you can see the whole picture of precaution and how we wear ourselves out keeping our family safe every day, the endless testing while trying not to sacrifice every last shred of normalcy when it's as safe as it can possibly be," she wrote.