Rock The Block's Ty Pennington Shuts Off Instagram Comments After Heartfelt Post: 'Sad Times We're Living In'

People who enjoy watching the numerous home renovation and design shows on HGTV typically don’t just become fans of those programs, but of the many hosts who bring them to us on a weekly basis. As such, hosts like Christina Haack, Ben and Erin Napier, and Alison Victoria tend to have a lot of followers on social media so they can interact with viewers. This is generally a pleasant affair, but recently Rock the Block host Ty Pennington had to turn off his Instagram comments after a heartfelt post, and noted what “sad times we’re living in.”

What Did Ty Pennington Post And What Was His Response To Negative Comments?

While it’s very common for our favorite HGTV hosts to share regular, everyday-life snaps, things about the shows or other projects they work on or snazzy bikini-filled beach posts, they can also (like many of us) take to social media to talk about the world at large. Ty Pennington did just that recently, by sharing a series of short videos that support immigrants, but it wasn’t long before his post was overrun by “ugly” comments that made him shut followers down:

Of course, it’s an unfortunate side effect of posting pretty much anything on social media that one might find even a pretty innocuous post gets heat for something they couldn’t have even guessed at. That possibility is going to grow by at least, oh, I don’t know, 10 thousand times, if you decide to share something that’s seen as political.

As the former Extreme Makeover: Home Edition host (who didn’t return for the 2025 TV schedule reboot that’s winning over fans with a new focus) said, he feels his post about immigration policies is really “about humanity,” so he was likely hoping that he could commiserate with others who feel the same or maybe begin to change some minds. However, not even a full hour elapsed before he decided to turn off comments because of how negative he believed they’d become. He said:

This is far from the first time that a celebrity was met with negativity in their comments section. It was less than a year ago that Only Murders in the Building star Selena Gomez opened up about how her social media breaks feel like “the most rewarding gift,” and a lot of the reason she steps away is to avoid negative and just plain mean-spirited comments that come nowhere near thoughtful criticism of something reasonable, like her work.

It was around the same time last year that Home Town star Erin Napier and her husband, Ben, felt they had to post a clip on Instagram explaining why “rude” social media comments were hurtful to the homeowners who appear on the popular show. Such things probably aren’t going to stop any time soon, so, hopefully, Pennington won’t let this be too discouraging, and he just turns his comments off before posting next time.