The internet has turned on the mother of Keaton Jones, the Tennessee boy who tearfully described a bullying incident in a viral video, after several social media posts surfaced of her proudly displaying the Confederate flag and making potentially bigoted remarks.

Kimberly Jones initially captured international attention on Friday by posting the video of Keaton, who can be seen sobbing and questioning the motivations of his tormentors at middle school. “Why do they bully?” Keaton asks in the video, which Kimberly Jones recorded in her car after picking him up from school. The video has been viewed more than 20 million times, sparking a tremendous outpouring of sympathy on social media and a flood of attention from celebrities inviting him to concerts, movie premieres and sporting events. Among some of Keaton’s more high-profile backers were Justin Bieber and “Avengers: Infinity War” co-stars Chris Evans (Captain America) and Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), who invited him to the film’s premiere.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page launched to raise money for Keaton garnered nearly US$57,000 in two days.

But the internet abruptly soured on Keaton’s story on Monday, after TMZ revealed several troubling screenshots taken from his mother’s Facebook page. One image showed Kimberly Jones smiling broadly beside a man holding up a Confederate flag. Another group shot showed Keaton standing next to another boy holding a Confederate flag. A third post, published two weeks after the Charlottesville riot, urges “butt hurt Americans” to stop talking about “metaphorical, emotional, financial or historical blood and brokenness.”

The post said: “If you aren’t bleeding, no bones are sticking out and you can breathe, STOP crying! For the love, some folks clearly never picked a switch.”

Critics pounced on the news, labelling Jones a racist and accusing her son of being one as well. Some suggested she was trying to capitalize on the support for her son by attempting to pocket the $57,000 pledged through the GoFundMe page, which has since stopped accepting donations. Many also circulated unsubstantiated claims that Keaton was bullied because he was being racist to other kids.

Several celebrities who had offered their sympathy and support to the boy, including Rihanna and Snoop Dogg, have since deleted their posts.

Evans and Ruffalo did not publicly revoke their “Avengers” invitation to Keaton. However, on Monday they retweeted a video of a young black boy explaining his upbeat response to bullying. “This young man is my Hero too,” Ruffalo said, adding that he wants the boy to attend the Avengers premiere with him.

“This kid is gonna do big things,” Evans tweeted.

Don Cheadle, who plays War Machine in the “Avengers” films, issued several tweets discussing Keaton and the accusations against his mother on Monday. “Not that the sins of the mother should visit the child but War Machine confused,” he tweeted. He added that taking Keaton to the film is “off the table as far as I’m concerned.”