Ty Pennington was forced to disable comments on his most recent Instagram post after his candid message reflecting on the “dark” state of the world received a rash of “ugly” comments. On Sunday, the HGTV star, 60, shared a series of videos of people standing up for immigrants amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown as he expressed concern for the country, Pennington later inviting his followers to feel “free to unfollow” if they disagreed with his message.
“I’ve been pretty quiet on here recently. This month has felt very dark,” Pennington wrote. After taking office on Jan. 20, Trump’s administration launched an immigration crackdown, with nearly 1,000 arrests over the weekend. “Almost every day we turn on the news to another tragedy and it’s hard to keep going like everything is normal. I fear this country has completely lost its empathy.”
After 45 minutes, the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition alum turned commenting off on the post, sharing in an edit, “And 45mins in and I have to turn the comments off bc it’s gotten so ugly- completely proving my point. Sad times we’re living in. This isn’t about politics, it’s about humanity and if you disagree, you’re free to unfollow.”
At this time, comments on the post remained off, and those that were made before Pennington disabled commenting are no longer visible. However, the Rock the Block star received plenty of support amid his poignant message. That original post garnered more than 9,000 likes, including from fellow HGTV stars like Love It or List It alum Hilary Farr, Renovation Island’s Sarah Baeumler, Married to Real Estate hosts Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson, Bargain Block’s Shea Hicks-Whitfield, and Help! I Wrecked My House star Jasmine Roth.
Many of Pennington’s more than 266,000 Instagram followers have also continued to show their support and agreement with his message on his previous Jan. 1 post. Replying to the upload, in which Pennington marked the start of 2025, one person wrote, “1/26. Thank you for today’s post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and let’s keep working for better days- for all of u.”
“I know you turned off the comments on your post about immigrants. But I wanted to say thank you for making that post. I would follow you again if I could,” somebody else commented. “I agree with you, this country has lost its soul, its ability to have empathy for others. I don’t know how we got here, but I want a country where everyone is accepted for who they are, no matter where they came from, who they love, their religion, how they identify, or what their immigration status is. People need to start watch Mr. Rogers again and learn from his humanitarian & tolerance teachings. Thank you Ty.”
Pennington replied to the posts with a series of heart emojis. He has not shared anymore posts at this time.
