Voting Station

Heidi Russo

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Celebrity's Relative

The Resume

    (1969- )
    Registered nurse
    Resides in Denver, Colorado
    Biological mother of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick
    Gave her son up for adoption to Rick and Teresa Kaepernick, in 1987
    Expressed interest in reconnecting with her son in a controversial 2013 ESPN interview
    Came under fire after retweeting Kaepernick on several occasions, including in 2016 at the height of the NFL National Anthem protests

Why she might be annoying:

    She threw shade at Colin's adoptive parents during her ESPN interview.
    She was criticized for opting to go public about her relation to Kaepernick without reaching out to him or his family privately.
    She was accused of only coming forward as Colin's birth mother - conveniently after he had taken the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl - as a means of seeking a handout (i.e. of being an opportunist).
    She was questioned over the appropriateness of retweeting Colin on several occasions (most bizarrely a tweet about his body fat being at 7%).
    When he was asked to comment on her reaching out, Kaepernick responded: 'My immediate reaction was like, why? I didn't feel like you have any right to say you have any say in how things go ... because you weren't the one working those night shifts, you weren't the one driving me to practice. My [adoptive] mom has gone above and beyond for so long, and I don't feel she gets the credit she deserves' (he also claimed that the pain it caused his family felt like 'an attack').
    She publicly threw her biological son under the bus when he opted to sit during the National Anthem in protest of police brutality, tweeting: 'The path less traveled doesn't need to be one of destruction. #beenthere #besmarter #berespectful' and 'there's ways to make change w/o disrespecting & bringing shame to the very country & family who afforded you so many blessings.'

Why she might not be annoying:

    When she announced her pregnancy, Colin's biological father abandoned her (she was eighteen at the time).
    She reportedly maintained contact with Colin's adoptive parents for several years after the adoption, but by his teens the communications had stopped.
    She was subjected to racially charged harassment by some angry Twitter users.
    She is a co-founder of Three Strands Inc., an adoption advocacy organization.
    By giving her son up for adoption, she afforded him the opportunity for a better life (enabling him to later make millions as a professional athlete and later to advocate for civil rights).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 8 Votes: 87.50% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 39 Votes: 7.69% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 56 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 32 Votes: 53.12% Annoying