Real life has always been much stranger than fiction. The scripted catalogs of Netflix, Hulu and Tubi can easily take back the incredible true stories straight from everyday life that freely appear on social media platforms. But it has a nightmarish reality took over TikTok last week isn’t just a fun thrill ride — complete with mind-boggling confusion, hair-raising suspense and intense sarcasm, “Girl, no he didn’t?” comedy — but also a stark reminder of the dangers that come with oversharing personal stories on social media.
On Valentine’s Day, TikToker Reesa Teesa started it”Who TF I Married,” a 50-part, eight-hour series of TikTok videos that quickly went viral. In each 10-minute clip, Reesa candidly narrated a first-hand chronological account of meeting, dating, marrying and eventually divorcing a narcissist and pathological liar. Reesa’s purpose in sharing such dark days, listeners would learn, was to help people who might be in a similar situation and “tell my story and tell it in detail and in order.” he said. In no time, millions of users devoured each part like black-market banned audiobooks, admitting that Reesa’s FYP-friendly experience had become the compelling soundtrack to their most mundane tasks like washing dishes and commuting to work.
@reesamteesa Who TF Did I Marry- Introduction #reesateesa #fyp #series ♬ original sound – ReesaTeesa
So who is Ressa? And who TF did she marry?
According to Reesa, she’s an Atlanta-based content creator and 9-to-5er whose whirlwind romance with a man she calls Legion (a nickname she gave him to hide his identity) began during the Covid pandemic -19 in March 2020. After their first phone calls and a first date that almost didn’t happen – until Legion appeared as a white knight to fix the flat tire on her way to see him – she hit the ex-footballer and broke up the company executive. he thought she was romantic and could provide financially. Within months, Legion moved in with Reesa in her mansion and they were pregnant.
Within the entertainment value, cautionary undertones still emerge.
Soon after, the two began house hunting, a process that would immediately set off Reesa’s internal alarm bells. They would make all-cash offers, and Legion couldn’t provide proof of the funds necessary to close any deal. His lack of honesty and financial stability was shown again when he promised, as he claims, to buy her a car and deliver it.
The car never came. And they never bought a house. Eventually, he had a miscarriage for which he was largely absent due to his hectic work schedule. Despite the red flags that Reesa admits she ignored and her continued suspicion, the couple married in January 2021. Although he wasn’t completely happy, he believed that he was the vice president of a spice company, that he talked to his brother every morning before job, and that he had only been married once before.
Only after her divorce, after only a few months of marriage, did he realize that the Legion had constructed his entire life: He was not well off. He was not a vice president but a temporary forklift operator. He married more than once. And perhaps most disturbingly, he lied about the death of family members and only pretended to be talking to his family on the phone — he was talking to himself.
“The Legion never loved me,” Reesa says of her post-divorce realizations. “Every day, he lied to me.”
Reesa is the Zola of 2024
Reesa’s story is made up of Lifetime movie deals, and her new fans are hoping that she will have lucrative opportunities for her openness. But Reesa’s series of unfortunate events isn’t Beyoncé’s first weird story to hit the internet.
In 2015, Aziah “Zola” Wells took Twitter by storm with her viral thread of 148 tweets about a quick road trip to Tampa with a friend. The incredible story was the first of its kind to be told and later made into an A24 film about the perils of fast friendship, the intricacies of sex work and dark seductive truths.
The charm in these types of tales is the storytelling ability. In both Reesa and Aziah’s stories, digital platforms were transformed into virtual theaters where users eagerly awaited the next chapter of their emotional rollercoaster. However, within the entertainment value, cautionary undertones still emerge.
This is a prime example of how the internet works — the second a story is in the hands of the people clamoring for it, it’s no longer yours to control.
Did Reesa’s sharing go too far?
In a digital landscape where authenticity is both revered and commodified, Reesa’s decision to reveal the intimate details of her wedding raises an important question: How much is too much to share online? The engaging nature of her content may inadvertently encourage others to follow her lead, but it has also encouraged viewers to share details that Reesa would otherwise want to keep to herself.
For example, ever since Reesa found out about the Legion rogue, she has had no contact with him saying, “I haven’t seen him, I haven’t heard of him, I don’t want to hear from him” in the series. Introduction / Disclaimer. But that didn’t stop the fellow TikToker Danny H from the revelation of Legion’s true identity to the displeasure of millions of users. Although Reesa apparently wanted to put some safeguards in place before Legion’s real name (Jerome McCoy) was revealed, as she mentioned in a TikTok, this is a prime example of how the internet works – the second a story is in its hands the people who they shout about it, it’s no longer yours to control.
Over-sharing of personal trauma online seems vulnerable, authentic and good for mental health in the age of social media, according to Associate Professor of Psychology Simon Boag. “There is a new value in vulnerability and spilling your guts,” she writes. “It’s what some call contagious vulnerability and part of a new language of mental self-care.”
While opening up on the Internet can certainly be therapeutic and draw in people who relate, it can also make anyone susceptible to doxxing, cyberbullying, and cyberstalking. There is no way to monitor the flow of information, just as Reesa could not keep her ex’s privacy. Users, whether they enjoy the content or not, can get any information mentioned in a video and follow personal information such as home addresses, names of family members and employment information.
According to the psychotherapist Shannon Thomas he said Business Insider, dropping trauma or offloading traumatic experiences onto others without warning, which is common on TikTok, can also lead to secondary trauma. “Trauma dismissal creates an open door for a survivor who can be further harmed if their experience is met with a harsh or judgmental response from others online,” Thomas said.
However, Reesa’s intention to help those facing similar struggles is commendable and her transparency has undoubtedly resonated with a huge audience, but the inherent danger in sharing personal stories on platforms like TikTok lies in the unintended consequences. Legion is mentally unstable and this kind of exposure (and embarrassment) could cause him to hurt Reesa. These are things that internet entertainers don’t always stop to consider.
What is the lesson from? Who TF Did I Marry? (And how much is it worth?)
While going viral for a deep dive into your darkest secrets can have its pitfalls, it can also lead to major wins in life.
According to TikTok, brands like Delta and Hilton are sending Reesa to London and Paris, two cities she’s been dying to visit since her wedding. Are also to get a BMW (the Legion car promised to buy her)! And there are wild guesses that she’s making between $80,000 and $400,000 for the millions of TikTok views she’s racked up from her Legion troubles. Financial entrepreneur and content creator Jaystips suggested Reesa’s new riches based on view counts, video runtimes, TikTok creator program details and other common platform processes. “Some of her videos are almost 10 minutes long and usually platforms pay more the longer your videos are. So if TikTok [does] the same and will pay you more the longer your video is, realistically it could make $4 or $5 per 1000 views. That could be close to $400,000 for that series.”
As we consume content that blurs the lines between reality and entertainment, it is important to consider the potential implications of revealing the complexities of our lives.
This kind of earning potential is the charm of being vulnerable online, but the biggest advantage is being careful while doing it. As we consume content that blurs the lines between reality and entertainment, it is important to consider the potential implications of revealing the complexities of our lives. While the allure of going viral can be tempting, the lasting impact on personal well-being and relationships requires careful consideration in a world where social media is both a stage and a potential minefield.
Luckily for Reesa, Legion only responded on TikTok, as far as fans know. His first ex-wife LaToya Averett and his stepson Tashawn Lopes also shared their sides of the story.
“If just one woman watches these videos and goes, ‘You know what? Something doesn’t sit right with me. Let me look it up, then it was worth it.’
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