Jill Smokler: 'Scary Mommy' Founder Dies of Brain Cancer

Jill Smokler, New York Times bestselling author and founder of the popular parenting blog Scary Mommy, passed away following a two-year battle with brain cancer. The blog published a statement on June 22, 2026, paying tribute to the 48 year-old influencer.

Smokler first announced her diagnosis in May 2024 on Instagram, writing, “Glioblastoma was not on my 2024 bingo card, alas here we are.” Smokler added that her diagnosis left her feeling “not great” as she kept “alternating between feeling so profoundly sad and so pissed off”.

“All I want to do is spend time with my kids, ideally on a beach because that’s my happy place. It’s so ridiculously bittersweet — I am trying to focus on the sweet part,” she shared.

Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer, accounting for approximately 50% of all brain cancer cases in adults. It has a five-year relative survival rate of approximately 7%.

After a two-year long battle with brain cancer, Smokler passed away in June 2026. The Scary Mommy team released a statement, writing, “It is with great sadness that we report Jill — the original scary mommy — passed away on June 22, 2026, at 48 years old, after a more than two-year fight with glioblastoma.”

Her family also shared a statement, which read “Jill spent her life telling the truth about motherhood — that it could be wonderful and impossible in the very same breath — and in doing so, she gave millions of women permission to stop pretending and feel a little less alone. She was funny, fearless, generous, and entirely herself. More than anything she built, Jill was proudest of her three children, Lily, Ben, and Evan. We are heartbroken to lose her, and endlessly proud of the mark she left on the world.”

Smokler started the Scary Mommy blog in 2008, when she was a stay-home mother with three kids, all under four years of age. She used the blog as a space to discuss her life as a mother and to help other women feel less alone. Since then, the blog has grown to become a community for mothers everywhere.

Besides blogging, Smokler had also written two New York Times bestsellers, Confessions of a Scary Mommy in 2012 and Motherhood Comes Naturally (and Other Vicious Lies) in 2013.

When the news of her passing was released, fans of the author took to social media to express their sadness and to share their tributes. Smokler’s ex-husband, Jeff, also wrote a tribute to her, sharing, “No words will ever convey 30 years of a life shared. Since I was 18 years old, Jill was my touchstone. Every part of who I am today was in part shaped by who she was — and who we were together. Our relationship was complicated, especially in the last several years, but it was also beautiful.”

In lieu of flowers, Jill’s family has asked that donations in her memory be made to The Brain Tumor Network.