Hilary Swank, the acclaimed actress who has twice taken home an Oscar, found herself in an unexpected confrontation at Los Angeles International Airport. The incident involved a mother, Jada Bafus, who was at the airport with her terminally ill sons, embarking on a heartfelt Make-A-Wish journey to Disneyland.

Swank, aged 51, reacted sharply, accusing Bafus of attempting to take a photo of her. “I hope you enjoy that picture!” Swank reportedly snapped, misunderstanding the situation. This interaction occurred as Bafus was merely waiting at the baggage claim area, preparing to take her seven-year-old son, Mason, to the famed Anaheim theme park.

Originating from Spokane, Washington, Bafus was on this trip to fulfill a special wish for her son Mason, with his brother Jack joining them. What was meant to be a joyous occasion took an unfortunate turn when Bafus, mid-call with her husband Bryan, inadvertently found herself in a tense moment with the actress standing nearby.

Mason and his four-year-old brother Jack both suffer from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, an incurable and terminal disease that causes skeletal and heart muscle weakness. 

The situation underscores the unpredictable nature of public encounters and highlights the sensitivity required when handling such delicate moments, especially for families on a meaningful journey like the Bafuses.

But things took a decidedly ugly turn when Bafus took out her phone to call her husband Bryan while Swank was standing next to her.

‘At baggage claim, I was walking next to Hilary Swank,’ Bafus said. 

‘And I did a double take on her because it’s Hilary Swank and I am a fan of her movies and stuff. 

Hilary Swank (pictured in 2013) snapped ‘I hope you enjoy that picture’ at a woman taking her dying sons to Disneyland after mistakenly accusing her of photographing her at Los Angeles International Airport last week  

Jada and Bryan Bafus were traveling to Disneyland on a Make-A-Wish trip for son Mason (pictured front in blue sunglasses) Both Mason and his brother Jack suffer from a terminal illness called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

‘And then I took my phone out because I got distracted and trying to find my Make-A-Wish kids and my husband.

‘I was trying to call him and I think I just took my phone out the wrong time. She just thought I was taking a picture of her. She was having a bad day.

‘She just said ‘I hope you enjoy that picture.’ I just looked, like you know, ‘I was trying to call my husband. I wasn’t taking a picture.’ She just stormed off a little bit.

Bafus continued: ‘It was just the wrong, wrong place one time.’ 

‘It just hurt my feelings because I was starting my son’s Make-A-Wish trip, which she wouldn’t have known, but just one of those situations where it was one of my first encounters with a celebrity so I thought it was a little comical.’

She added: ‘We just don’t know what others are going through and I was just a stressed mom trying to navigate LAX.’

Swank has since contacted Bafus on Instagram, apologizing for her behavior and saying that she was worried about her toddler twins being photographed.

The actress welcomed her son and daughter, named Aya and Ohm, in 2023 and has never shared any photos of their faces with her 1.6 million Instagram followers. 

Swank (pictured in July this year) reached out to Jada and apologized for the encounter after an Instagram post detailing the incident amassed more than 5 million views, the Mail can reveal. The star also expressed her concern for Mason and Jack

Swanks jibe at Jada Bafus was detailed by the shocked mother on Instagram, with the post subsequently seen by millions of social media users 

Bafus shared Swank’s apology messages with the Daily Mail but asked for them not to be reproduced.  

Bryan Bafus questioned why a superstar who won the best actress Oscar in 2000 for Boys Don’t Cry and again in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby was so put-out by having her picture taken in a bustling airport that is often swarming with celebrity snappers.

‘I think when you’re in that type of — I guess that’s your job on getting filmed in that type of stuff, I feel like it shouldn’t be out of the realm to have your picture taken. 

‘And Jada wasn’t necessarily taking photos of her, but so to have like, to snap back at anybody when you’re in that profession is kind of like work, I don’t know — it is what it is. We’re not upset at her. 

‘We’re not trying to get anything from it. It was just kind of like ‘oh, look at this, that was crazy right?’

‘It was unexpected at the start of our trip.’ 

Bafus added: ‘I did not expect Hilary Swank to directly talk to me. It was just like a ‘woah, I was taken back’.’ 

Bafus shared her experience on Instagram, where it was re-shared millions of times. 

Mason (left, at Disneyland) was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in 2023 when he was just four years old. Jack was diagnosed three months later, at only 18 months old

Despite the hiccup at the start of their trip, the Bafus family had the ‘best time’ at Disneyland

Swank apologized to her on Monday and sent a subsequent message to her asking if she could offer any help with their sons illnesses. 

The couple say they bear Swank no ill-will and that the experience did not sour their trip to Disneyland.  

‘They treated us so well,’ Jada said of the Disney and Make-A-Wish staff.

She said the family was treated like VIPs from the moment they arrived at the airport and throughout the entire vacation.

‘These cast members must be trained to find the Make-A-Wish kids because we were just walking around and they would come ad get us on the ride. They let us ride as long as you want and let our party go through the lightning lanes. 

‘On the Web Slingers [ride] in California Adventure — they took Mason to the back and put on these cool Spider-Man things on his arms and he got to do the ride a little bit more intensively. It was pretty cool to see all the perks they were giving him.’ 

Mason was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in 2023 when he was just four years old.

He had already undergone three brain surgeries relating to a separate condition called Chiari malformation, a birth defect in which brain tissue extends into the spinal canal, at the time of his diagnoses.

The star has won two Academy Awards for Best Actress, for her roles in Boys Don’t Cry (1999) and Million Dollar Baby (2004); Seen with her Oscar in 2005

Jack was diagnosed three months later, at only 18 months old. 

According to the family, boys who suffer from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy typically live to be in their late 20s, but usually end up in a wheelchair between the ages of 10 and 13.

Jada and Bryan have turned to social media to raise awareness about the disease and are hopeful that the FDA will soon approve several treatments that are in the pipeline.

‘It’s not necessarily the goal of healing this type of disease of muscular dystrophy. We’re trying to find a way to maintain it so that they can have a normal life with the lifespan they have,’ Jada explained.

Swank began her career in TV show Evening Shade in 1991 then hit the big time in 1999 by playing a transgender bullying victim in Boys Don’t Cry, which won the star her first Academy Award.

Swank bagged a rare second best actress Oscar in 2005 playing a boxer in the Clint Eastwood-directed Million Dollar Baby. 

She is one of only 15 actresses to have won the coveted award more than once, joining a pantheon of greats that includes Meryl Streep, Bette Davis, Vivian Leigh and Olivia de Havilland. 

Swank now lives in a stunning $3.5 million coastal home in Bellingham, Washington, about 20 miles south of the Canadian border.

She married her second husband Philip Schneider in 2018 and welcomed their twins five years later.