Jill Smokler, founder of Scary Mommy, dies of brain cancer at 48

(Gray News) – Popular mommy blogger Jill Smokler died at age 48, according to an obituary shared by her family on social media.

Smokler, who founded Scary Mommy, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2024.

“It’s with broken hearts that we share that Jill passed away this morning, after a more than two-year fight with glioblastoma,” Smokler’s family wrote in a post on her official Instagram account. “She faced it the way she faced everything — funny, fierce, and completely herself.”

Smokler started the Scary Mommy blog when she was home with three children under 4, according to Today.

“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,” her family wrote on Instagram.

Scary Mommy said in a tribute post that because of Smokler’s vision, “everyone here can still feel validated, understood and seen as they do one of the hardest things you can do: parent.”

In lieu of flowers, her family is asking that donations in her memory be made to the Brain Tumor Network.