How two famous women weaponised Father’s Day this year.

It's Father's Day in the US at the moment (don't stress, it's not until September 1 for us, phew!) which means that loads of doting dad posts by American celebrities are flooding feeds right now.

But two posts from two of the most followed women on Instagram have caused criticism.

This week, Kourtney Kardashian shared a Father’s Day Instagram post dedicated to her husband, Travis Barker, who she shares 7-month-old son, Rocky. Barker also has a son Landon, 20, daughter Alabama, 18, with ex-wife Shanna Moakler.

"Beyond grateful for the Dad that you are to our baby boy, and all of our kids," she captioned the post. "You keep us safe and protected and take care of us. Having a family with you is heaven. Happy to celebrate you!"

Image: Instagram/@kourtneykardash. 

Kourtney was immediately called out for not acknowledging her ex, Scott Disick, the father to her three eldest children: Mason, 14, Penelope, 11, and Reign, 9.

"I actually find this so disrespectful that you haven’t included your other kids with Scott… He is the father of your three other children in case you had forgotten about him and them," one commented.

"What about the father to your other 3 children…. Scott? That’s crazy to not thank him. Kourt wild! Crazy," another wrote.

According to TMZ, Disick spent Father’s Day with his kids at restaurant Nobu in Malibu, California.

This controversy comes less than a week after Jennifer Lopez posted an Instagram Story, captioned 'our hero' in a Father's Day dedication to her husband, Ben Affleck.

Image: Instagram/jlo.

The post baffled fans as it followed reports that Lopez and Affleck are no longer living together and several sources claim they're headed for divorce. But it also caused some confusion online because Lopez doesn't actually share any biological children with the Gone Girl actor.

J-Lo shares twins with ex-husband Marc Anthony while Affleck has three children with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. And curiously, the image Lopez shared of Affleck is from the 2001 movie Pearl Harbour: the film where Affleck first met, Garner.

So what does it all mean?

As far as Kourtney is concerned, she hasn't had the best relationship with Scott in the last decade.

The couple dated on and off for nine years from 2006, but in that time, Disick had issues with heavy partying and alcoholism, she accused him of cheating several times, including finding published tabloid photos of him with an ex-girlfriend in Monte Carlo which led to their final split in 2015.

Scott Disick and Kourtney Kardashian in 2013. Image: Getty. 

Scott has since gone to rehab and started on a better path. In the current The Kardashians season, he is no longer dating. Disick has often spoken about his sadness over their split and the distance that's since grown between them — especially since Barker entered the equation.

"It was a huge adjustment losing Kourtney romantically, but now it’s becoming a huge adjustment losing her as a best friend," he told Khloé Kardashian on The Kardashians.

"Now we’re really just more co-parenters. I’d say it’s probably one of the more difficult things in my life."

But Kourtney has never been happier: she got engaged to the Blink-182 drummer in 2021 and they had an extravagant Italian wedding in 2022 before welcoming their son, Rocky, in 2023.

Since getting together, Kourtney and Travis have been inseparable. "I definitely hold my relationship really close," she told Variety in 2022. "It’s so sacred to me and I am very protective of it. I think I’ve learned a lot of lessons." 

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In the case of Lopez, this could be an attempt to either save her marriage, or make it appear to her critics that the couple is on good terms, at the very least.

Jen and Ben were an 'It' couple in the early '00s, they even got engaged but broke up in 2004. 17 years later, they got back together, became engaged in 2022 and married three months later.

In recent months, some odd behaviour has been exhibited between the couple: they're rarely seen together, they haven't attended any red carpets as a couple; they sold their LA mansion and Lopez just cancelled her tour.

With all this in mind, Lopez's recent praise of Ben's fathering instead of the actual father of her two children is definitely saying... something.

Whether deserved or not, both these women have made a choice to focus on one dad over another. The reason? I assume they'll both stay mum on that.

Feature image: Instagram/@kourtneykardash/@jlo.