Jill Smokler, a blogger best known as the founder of the website Scary Mommy, has passed away following a battle with brain cancer. She was 48 years old.
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In a statement ot TODAY, Smokler’s brother, Matt Epstein, confirmed the news. She had been battling the disease for two years.
“Jill spent her life telling the truth about motherhood — that it could be wonderful and impossible in the very same breath — and in doing so, she gave millions of women permission to stop pretending and feel a little less alone,” Epstein wrote. “She was funny, fearless, generous, and entirely herself. More than anything she built, Jill was proudest of her three children, Lily, Ben, and Evan. We are heartbroken to lose her, and endlessly proud of the mark she left on the world.”
Smokler’s family also took to Instagram to pay tribute to her and her legacy.
“On March 21, 2008, Jill wrote four words that would change her life, and a lot of ours too: ‘Here goes. Day One,'” the post, featuring a photo of Smokler, states. “That was the first post on Scary Mommy. What followed was almost twenty years of telling the truth — the mess, the boredom, the guilt, the flashes of rage, and the love so big it somehow made all of it worth it. She said the things mothers weren’t supposed to say out loud, and because she said them first, millions of you finally felt allowed to say them too.”
Smokler’s family then wrote, “It’s with broken hearts that we share that Jill passed away this morning, after a more than two-year fight with glioblastoma. She faced it the way she faced everything — funny, fierce, and completely herself.”
Smokler’s Family Detailed Her Legacy
The late blogger’s family then reflected on her hard work and dedication to both her career and her family
“She was so many things: a New York Times bestselling author, a founder, a truth-teller. But the thing she was proudest of, always, was being a mother — to Lily, Ben, and Evan,” the blogger’s family continued. “If Scary Mommy gave you permission to laugh, to admit it was hard, or to feel a little less alone — that was Jill. That was always Jill. If she meant something to you, we’d love to hear it.”
They then added, “Thank you for loving her, and for being part of the community she built.”
Born in 1977, Smokler launched her blog Scary Mommy in March 2008. The goal of the blog was to share the ins and outs of motherhood. Smokler later wrote the book Confessions of a Scary Mommy as the website’s companion book.
The website was acquired by Some Spiders Studios in 2015, with Smokler signing on as chief content officer. She left the blog altogether in 2018.