AITA for telling my parents that they ruined NY celebration after they kicked my husband out over a joke?

A woman defended her husband after he was kicked out of a New Year’s Eve celebration for making a controversial joke about her brother’s adopted son and his biological parents. The joke struck a nerve with her brother and his wife, leading to tension and the husband being asked to leave.

The woman believes her parents overreacted by escalating the situation, while her family thinks the joke was out of line. To dive deeper into this family conflict, read the full story below…

‘ AITA for telling my parents that they ruined NY celebration after they kicked my husband out over a joke?’

I’ve been married to my 2nd Husband “Mike” for 4 years now. He’s a jokester and loves to crack jokes all the time. He especially like to joke with my brother “Ethan” and his wife. Ethan used to be okay with it til he started complaining about Mike taking it too far with his jokes. Some context about Ethan.

He and his wife couldn’t have kids so they adopted a boy “Joey” 2 years ago. Mike has been making silly, lighthearted jokes that involving Joey’s bio parents as a way to mess with Ethan and his wife. I already talked to Mike and I tell you that he’s 100%means no harm and he was just trying to get them to react.

So fast forward to NYE, my parents hosted a big celebratory dinner and Ethan and his wife came. While we were eating dinner, Mike decided to tell a knock-knock joke to Ethan. He said “Knock knock..” Ethan laughed and said “Who’s there?”. Mike replied “Joey’s bio parents” then he bursted out laughing.

Silence took over and Ethan’s facial experssions changed. His wife called Mike an “i**ot” to which Mike replied with “Hey…Relax it was just a joke”. An argument ensued and dinner was paused. My parents suddenly told Mik to leave which I thought was too harsh.

I tried to speak to them and get them to calm down but mom insisted that Mike leave. We left and Mike was complaining the whole time about how they overreacted. I called mom later and she told me Mike was out of line with his hurtful jokes about this touchy topic and told me I was wrong for defending him and saying he was just joking.

She said he ruined NY for the family but I told her it was her and dad who ruined NY celebration for escalating the situation and kicking him out. I told her he could talk to them but again they were the ones who ruined NY celebration. She called me delusional for this statement and hung up. We haven’t talked to them for days. I tried contacting Ethan but no response.

Here’s what the community had to contribute:

CertainCertainties −  YTA. Your husband likes to hurt people. It’s nothing to do with jokes.

QutieLuvsQuails −  MIKE RUINED the celebration. Wow, idk if I’ve read such an out of touch post on AITA… ever. YTA. And so is your husband. “Mike has been making silly, lighthearted jokes that involving Joey’s bio parents as a way to mess with Ethan and his wife.”

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUDGE. That is TERRIBLE. Teasing an infertile couple about their adopted child’s bio parents? I am mortified. Edited to add: I am super freaking proud of your parents!!!!

MaralDesa −  Wow yeah YTA. Sorry but your “Mike” is an a**hole. Not uncommon for the “jokester”s who love to crack jokes to “mess with people”. F**k that, it’s not in good spirit, it’s one-sided, b**lying and just disgusting . It’s not lighthearted or silly, it’s just mean. The sentence “Relax, it was just a joke” is horrible.

Your Mike hides behind this excuse to be an a**hole and a b**ly to people, to push their buttons, to be mean and then retreat when they get upset by calling it all a joke. You are enabling and supporting that, which makes you no better.

Hubble_bubble753 −  YTA no one likes your husband. He’s not funny. His jokes aren’t cute. No one thinks he’s clever, or amusing. He does mean harm otherwise why would he keep pick, pick, picking at this very sensitive subject? Your husband is a b**ly. You’re enabling your husband to b**ly your relatives.

antonylockhart −  YTA so much, especially Mike. Knock knock. Who’s there?. Mikes an a**hole, f**k Mike.. What? It’s a joke??

tatasz −  YTA Your husband is an a**hole, and you are enabling him. Making jokes to try to get people to react after they asked you not to is b**lying and harassing, not lighthearted jokes. Your parents didn’t overreact, they kicked out a disgusting b**ly. Or they were just joking, OP and you are overreacting over a harmless prank kkkkkk

selkiesart −  YTA. What if someone took your greatest insecurity and poked at it. Over and over and over and over again. Like some s**tty, hurtful groundhog day. And when you said something about it, they would tell you “Well, calm down, it’s a joke.” Would you like that? I don’t think so.

Your husband is nothing more than a cruel, mean b**ly. And you are his enabler. Also, “Mike” isn’t just hurting the parents, he is hurting the kid as well and that makes it even worse.. YTA.

diminishingpatience −  YTA. He isn’t funny, even if you both think he is. He has continually done this as a way to mess with Ethan and his wife. and he was just trying to get them to react.. What on earth is funny about that?

MerlinBiggs −  YTA. Making fun on an issue regarding not being to have kids is cruel. You are clearly married to a cruel guy. Saying it’s “just a joke” is justifying a form of b**lying. Mike ruined the occasion, you ruined it more by defending him. Your mum is right, you are delusional.

johnmiltonfanatic −  YTA – It’s not even a funny joke?!? You’d still be the a**hole if it was but like…what was even the point?