Hannah Neeleman, better known as “Ballerina Farm,” broke the silence around her feature portrait written by Megan Agnew for The Sunday Times. The viral article, which was published on July 20, drew significant backlash regarding the trad wife movement on social media. As a result, Hannah said she was “shocked” by the outcome.
Taking to her Instagram page on Wednesday (July 31), the mom-of-eight recalled Megan visiting her family on their farm located in rural Utah as she narrated a video of herself showing glimpses of her life along with her husband.
Highlights
- Hannah Neeleman, known as Ballerina Farm, broke her silence on a viral article by The Sunday Times that depicted her as an oppressed wife.
- Hannah and her husband Daniel were shocked by the article, which they felt inaccurately portrayed their family and her role as a trad wife.
- The Times article highlighted the controversy surrounding the trad wife movement.
- Hannah insisted that her and Daniel's priorities are God and family, building their life together as co-parents and business partners.
“We thought the interview went really well,” Hannah said. “Very similar to the dozens of interviews we had done in recent memory.”
Nevertheless, Hannah and her husband, Daniel Neeleman, were left stunned upon reading the article once published, as the influencer said: “[The article] shocked us and shocked the world.”
Hannah Neeleman, better known as “Ballerina Farm,” broke the silence around her The Sunday Times article
Image credits: ballerinafarm
She continued: “By being an attack on our family and my marriage, portraying me as oppressed, with my husband being the culprit.”
Hannah claimed: “This couldn’t be further from the truth. Nothing we said in the interview implied this conclusion, which leads me to believe the angle taken was predetermined.
“The greatest day of my life was when Daniel and I were married 13 years ago.
“Together, we have built a business from scratch. We brought eight children into this world and have prioritized our marriage all along the way.
“We are co-parents, co-CEOs, co-diaper changers, kitchen cleaners, and decision-makers.
“We are one, and I love him more today than I did 13 years ago.”
She concluded: “We have many dreams still to accomplish. We aren’t done having babies,” adding: “For now, I’m doing what I love most: being a mother, wife, a businesswoman, a farmer.”
The viral article, which was published on July 20, drew significant backlash about the trad wife movement on social media
Image credits: ballerinafarm
In a follow-up Instagram post, this time sharing a photograph of herself posing in front of a cow, Hannah wrote: “Every day I share a glimpse into our rural farm and family life here in the mountains of northern Utah.
“I wear many hats–mom, wife, cook, business owner, content creator, lover of God and all things butter.
“For long-time followers and those just joining the journey, I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you our story in my own words.
“My time before marriage, before kids, before I even dreamt of creating Ballerina Farm.”
Image credits: ballerinafarm
The Times’ portrait of Hannah Neeleman, better known as “Ballerina Farm,” is the most talked about article since it was published earlier this month. Unhashing the controversy around the trad wife social media trend, the viral feature drew concerns about the exploitation of the 34-year-old.
Hannah is the most well-known trad wife despite having never attached herself to the movement or even used the term, journalist Megan wrote.
Megan, who flew to rural Utah to observe the influencer, who is followed by 9.3 million people on Instagram and 8.7 million people on TikTok, exposed what appeared to be the dark side of being a trad wife.
Hannah is notable for being the mother of eight children — Henry, 12, Charles, 10, George, 9, Frances, 7, Lois, 5, Martha, 3, Mabel, 2, and baby Flora — and the dedicated wife of Daniel, the son of David Neeleman, billionaire founder of a number of commercial airlines, including JetBlue.
As a result, Hannah said she was “shocked” by the outcome
Image credits: ballerinafarm
The social media content creator is the face of the family of 10 who lives on a 328-acre farm just outside the small town of Kamas, Utah, where ranching and farming have become their brand.
“Ballerina Farm” is a nod to Hannah’s professional ballet background. She studied the classical form of dance at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York, USA, leaving it all behind for a life in the countryside with Daniel.
Megan’s article highlights the apparent sacrifice Hannah made for her 35-year-old husband, who always sought a traditional lifestyle out of the city and suburbia with a hands-on, stay-at-home wife.
Daniel was 23 years old when he met the at the time 21-year-old ballerina at a college basketball game.
“I saw her and I was ready to go,” he told Megan. “Sign me up. I was thinking, ‘Let’s get married.’ But she wouldn’t go on a date with me for six months.”
Upon learning about Hannah’s plans to continue to study ballet in New York, Daniel reportedly used his father’s airline privilege to arrange to be on the same flight as her, even sitting next to her, before pursuing a romance.
According to The Times piece, Daniel insisted on getting married at an earlier time than Hannah had initially wished, as she wanted to graduate from her art school.
Nevertheless, after one month of dating, they were engaged. Two months later, they were married. And three months after that, Hannah was pregnant, Megan wrote.
Hannah and her husband, Daniel Neeleman, were left stunned upon reading the article once published
Image credits: ballerinafarm
Megan’s piece shed light on the controversial trad wife movement. The term “tradwife” (from traditional wife) has been particularly controversial because of its associations with the far-right, especially in the USA.
Trad wife typically refers to a woman who assumes roles and responsibilities considered traditional within the context of marriage in modern society.
Isadora Borghi, a 25-year-old self-described trad wife, told Bored Panda in May that she followed conservative principles where women are expected to submit to their husbands and serve their spouses and their families.
The Times article sparked outrage on social media, with many people alleging that Daniel had groomed Hannah into giving up her dreams of becoming a professional dancer.
Image credits: ballerinafarm
Megan’s article often called attention to the ways Hannah’s identity as a person had been seemingly erased, as she wrote: “Daniel wanted to live in the great western wilds, so they did; he wanted to farm, so they do; he likes date nights once a week, so they go (they have a babysitter on those evenings); he didn’t want nannies in the house, so there aren’t any.
“The only space earmarked to be Neeleman’s own — a small barn she wanted to convert into a ballet studio — ended up becoming the kids’ schoolroom.”
The Times recently shared a TikTok video of Megan revealing certain challenges she faced as she tried to interview Hannah.
“I thought I was going to be interviewing Hannah,” the journalist said. “It turned out to be a little harder than that.”
"This couldn’t be further from the truth," Hannah said
Image credits: ballerinafarm
Megan explained: “Daniel is very involved in the brand. In fact, he kind of leads it.
“Hannah seemed to be the sort of face.”
“Now, I spent the day with them and their eight children and animals, really, out in the sticks of Utah, in the middle of nowhere, and I asked her when we were standing on the side of the mountain, ‘Is this what you always wanted to do?’
“‘Is this always where you wanted to be?’ And she said that actually, she wanted to live in New York City.
Image credits: ballerinafarm
“That was her dream, and she had wanted to be a ballerina.”
According to the journalist, the Neelemans’ children are homeschooled, and the Mormon household does not have a nanny.
“You know, these children are literally swinging off her hair,” Megan said. “Daniel was a little bit more leading, actually.”
She admitted: “It was sometimes hard to ask her questions, and it was sometimes hard to get a direct answer from her without her being interrupted or her deferring to her husband.”
"He found joy, she did not," a reader commented
