The mother of two terminally ill boys has opened up about making peace with Oscar winner Hilary Swank following an alleged confrontation at LAX airport in Los Angeles.
Jada Bafus recently went viral for an Instagram post where she alleged that the Million Dollar Baby actress, 52, snapped at her at baggage claim. Bafus — who said she was taking her “two terminally ill boys” on a Make-A-Wish trip to Disneyland — wrote that, while she was trying to call her husband, Swank accused her of attempting to take a photo of the star’s 2-year-old twins, Aya and Ohm.
“You got what you needed? Get what you came for? Enjoy that picture?” Swank allegedly asked Bafus.
In the aftermath of her viral post, Bafus confirmed to Page Six that Swank recently reached out via an Instagram DM with “sympathy” and “praise” for her family’s ordeal.
“We both apologized to each other,” Bafus told the outlet.
According to the outlet, Bafus now sees the run-in with Swank as a case of “two triggered mothers” having a “human misunderstanding.”
“She also took the time to learn about our family,” Bafus added.
Bafus admitted to feeling “bad” about the altercation being “twisted into a negative light” because she now realized Swank was only “trying to protect her kids from getting photographed.”
Jada also reassured the outlet that her husband Bryan and their two sons, Mason, 7, and Jack, 4 — who have Duchenne muscular dystrophy — were able to have “an absolute blast the entire time” at Disneyland despite the rough start for their trip. (The Mayo Clinic characterizes Duchenne as “the most common form” of muscular dystrophy and states that it is much “much more common in boys” than girls. Duchenne is part of a group of MD conditions that “cause muscles to become weaker and lose mass over time.”)
“It turns out that [Swank] has a personal connection with the disease, so she was able to have a connection with me,” Bafus mentioned.
Hilary Swank and Philip Schneider in January 2023. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
In a previous interview with the Daily Mail, Bafus admitted that her run-in with the acclaimed actress caught her completely off guard.
“[It] hurt my feelings because I was starting my son’s Make-A-Wish trip, which she wouldn’t have known, but just one of those situations where it was one of my first encounters with a celebrity so I thought it was a little comical,” she said.
Bafus was equally surprised when Swank reached out directly through Instagram to make amends.
“I did not expect Hilary Swank to directly talk to me,” Bafus recalled. “It was just, like, a ‘Whoa.’ I was taken aback.”
In October 2022, Swank — who was 48 at the time — announced on Good Morning America that she and her second husband, entrepreneur Philip Schneider, were expecting twins. (Swank was previously married to actor Chad Lowe from 1997 to 2007. She wed Schneider in 2018.)
“This is something that I’ve been wanting for a long time, and my next thing is I’m gonna be a mom,” she revealed. “And not just of one, but of two. I can’t believe it.”
The actress went on, “It’s so nice to be able to talk about it and share it.”
Swank shared the wonderful news in April 2023 that her twins, Aya and Ohm, had arrived just in time for Easter Sunday.
“It wasn’t easy. But boy (and girl!) was it worth it. 👼🏼🤍👼🏼 Happy Easter! 🐣🐣 Posting from pure Heaven,” she captioned an Instagram photo.
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