Betty Whittaker; Ray Whittaker; Lorraine ("Lorene") Whittaker; Timmy (cousin); Larry Whittaker (d. 2024)
The Whittaker Family is an American family from Odd in Raleigh County, West Virginia, whose lives have been documented in a series of videos on the YouTube channel Soft White Underbelly created by photographer and filmmaker Mark Laita.[1][2][3] The videos, first widely viewed in 2020, brought international attention to the family and to Odd.[4][5][6]
The Whittaker are often presented as one of "the most inbred familly in America", and as the product of more than a century of close-consanguineous marriages, beginning with identical twin brothers Henry and John Whittaker, and attribute the intellectual and physical disabilities seen among present-day members to this high coefficient of inbreeding.[7][8][9]
Background
The origins of the Whittaker family trace back to two identical twin brothers, Henry and John Whittaker. Their children, Harry and Sally, who were cousins (and more closely related due to their identical twin fathers), married each other, producing seven children including John. This John married his first cousin Ada, and they had nine children, including Gracie. Gracie then married her double first cousin John Whittaker, and they had 15 children, many of whom suffered from serious genetic disabilities due to the pattern of intermarriages in the family.[10]
Odd is an unincorporated community in the Appalachian region of southern West Virginia.[11] According to Laita, he first met members of the family in the early 2000s while working on his portrait project and photobook Created Equal, and later returned to film interviews beginning in 2020.[12][13]
Multiple journalistic reconstructions describe the Whittakers as the product of more than a century of close-consanguineous marriages, beginning with identical twin brothers Henry and John Whittaker, and attribute the intellectual and physical disabilities seen among present-day members to this high coefficient of inbreeding.[7][8][9]
Frequent members apparitions
Betty Whittaker (1952-2024) – featured in multiple interviews before her reported death in 2024 (date reported in local and social posts, limited obituaries available).[14]
Lorene Whittaker (Born in 1946) – appears in several house-visit videos and porch interviews.[14]
Ray Whittaker (Born in 1953) – frequently depicted; largely non-verbal on video.[14]
Larry Whittaker (1956-2024) – appears in interviews describing daily routines.[14][15]
Kenneth Whittaker (Born in 1957) – appears in group interviews.[14]
Jason (Born in 1978), Timmy (Born in 1979), and Matthew (younger generation, born in 1984) – appear intermittently across updates.[14]
BJ Whittaker – daughter of Larry Whittaker; featured in interviews and involved in family interactions.[16]
Other known familly members
Luis Whittaker and Brandon Whittaker – Grandsons who have shared insights into their upbringing in the family and plans to leave Odd.[17]
Journalistic investigations and interviews with surviving relatives outline a four-generation pedigree marked by repeated cousin marriages:
Generation 1 – Identical twins Henry and John Whittaker (b. c. 1880s).
Generation 2 – Henry’s son Harry and John’s daughter Sally (first cousins and “double cousins” because their fathers were identical twins) married one another and had seven children, including John Emory Whittaker (b. 1913).[7]
Generation 3 – John Emory married his first cousin Ada Rigg Whittaker and they produced nine children, among them Gracie Irene Whittaker (b. 1920).[8]
Generation 4 – Gracie Irene married her double first cousin John Whittaker (Harry’s grandson). The couple had fifteen children between 1940 and 1965; observers note that several—including Lorraine, Ray and Larry—exhibit severe cognitive and speech impairments linked to the family’s elevated inbreeding coefficient.[9]
Multigenerational cousin marriage greatly increases homozygosity and the likelihood of recessive-gene disorders, factors that may explain the ocular misalignment, intellectual disability and non-verbal autism-spectrum traits reported among current Whittaker family members.[9] Medical genetics reviews report that in first-cousin unions the frequency of birth defects is roughly 2–3 percentage points above the 2–3% baseline in the general population, and that the additional risk of congenital or genetic disorders for children of first cousins is commonly estimated at 2–4%, due to increased homozygosity for deleterious recessive alleles.[19][20]
Notable events
In 2024, prior to his actual death, a hoax was perpetrated involving reports of Larry Whittaker's death from a heart attack, which was documented in the Soft White Underbelly video "The Death of Larry Whittaker." The hoax was allegedly orchestrated by his daughter BJ to solicit funeral funds, leading to donations including $1,000 from Mark Laita. BJ later confessed and apologized, but further deceptions were revealed, including misuse of funds intended for her relocation.[16][10] The same year, Larry Whittaker experienced his first arrest for taking petrol from a yard without permission after running out of gas. Although his daughter Lorraine was caught on camera, charges were filed against Larry. He spent 10 hours in jail before being released on the same day, secured by Lorraine.[21] Larry Whittaker ultimately did pass away in 2024 at the age of 67.[15]
Public warnings
In 2024, filmmaker Mark Laita warned the public against visiting the Whittaker family in Odd, West Virginia, citing concerns for their safety and privacy. Neighbors have reportedly taken protective measures to guard the family from unwanted visitors.[22][23]
2025 police fraud bulletin
On 15 September 2025 the West Virginia State Police Beckley Detachment issued a public appeal for information about money and merchandise solicited “on behalf of” the Whittakers by two men identified as Eric Carroll and Patrick Roark.[24] Troopers asked anyone who had sent donations or goods through the named individuals to contact Cpl. J. W. Gilkeson as part of the ongoing fraud probe linked to earlier fundraising hoaxes.[25]
Documentation on Soft White Underbelly
Laita’s channel has published multiple portraits and follow-ups featuring the family, including scenes of daily life and check-ins over several years.[1][2][26][27][28]
Reception and ethics
Coverage and commentary on the videos have raised broader debates about documenting poverty and disability on social media. Vox characterized recent disputes among creators who film vulnerable people as part of a larger “poverty porn” controversy on YouTube.[6] Mainstream and tabloid outlets have repeatedly reported on the family after the videos went viral.[29][30]
Fundraising
Donations and fundraising campaigns for the family have been a recurring feature of the channel’s follow-ups.[28]
Mark Laita has helped set up a GoFundMe campaign for the family, which raised nearly $100,000 for living expenses and home upgrades. He has also provided direct financial assistance to the family.[10]
Fundraising disputes with other creators
In March 2024, a dispute arose between Mark Laita and another content creator, Tyler Oliveira, regarding fundraising efforts for the Whittaker family. This led to public accusations and highlighted ethical issues in documenting the family.[31]
In popular media
Laita discussed his Appalachian interviews, including the Whittakers, during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience episode "#1910 - Mark Laita".[13] Elements of the portrait approach predate the videos in Laita’s book Created Equal.[12][32]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.