Woman’s 50-Part TikTok Drama About Her Marriage to a «Pathological Liar» Captivated Over 100M People

In just a few weeks, Tareasa Johnson went from being a regular woman to an internet sensation. Using the name Reesa Teesa online, she has captivated 122 million viewers with her 50-part video series called «WHO DID I MARRY?». In it, Johnson opens up about her six-month marriage to a man whom she claims turned out to be «a pathological liar». Bright Side has prepared a brief retelling of this eight-hour-long tale.

How it started.

In her very first interview since gaining sudden internet fame, she opened up that she hadn’t expected the huge amount of attention her video series received.

«Whether you agree with me and my decisions or not, I wanted it to create conversation about the things that we ignore because we want what we want, or we’re in a hurry,» she explained.

Reesa Teesa also shared that sharing her story made her feel less alone. «I’ve started giving myself grace as I’m reading messages from other women who’ve gone through the same thing,» she said. «Because for the longest time after the story was released, it did feel like I was the only one who fell for this.»

«I’m going to tell the story of how I met, dated, and married and divorced a real pathological liar,» that’s how Reesa Teesa started her story. «I’m going to be truthful, even if it makes me look bad. I’m going to be honest, but I’m also not going to be disrespectful to anyone that was involved.»

Reesa met her ex-husband, whom she calls Legion, in March 2020. They found each other on two dating websites, where he used different names. Reesa noticed this and felt it was a warning sign.

During their first phone call, Legion told her he had moved from California to Georgia for a new job. He said he was a regional manager at a major condiment company. He said he grew up in Philadelphia and after graduating, he stayed on the West Coast, where he married a woman with two children.

He told Reesa that he caught his wife cheating, leading to their divorce, but he remained close to his ex-stepchildren. He also mentioned playing something called «Arena Football,» which Reesa wasn’t familiar with. Additionally, he claimed to work as an IT guy at Apple during his off-seasons.

Their first date almost didn’t happen because Reesa got a flat tire on the way to dinner. But Legion came to her rescue, fixing her tire and buying her a new one. At dinner, they talked about their shared dreams of marriage and starting a family. Legion said all the right things to make Reesa feel special. «The person I met was very funny, was personable,» she explained. «This was a guy who I really, after having multiple conversations with, felt like, ’Wow, where have you been?’»

Moving together.

Within two weeks after their meeting, Reesa and Legion, who had become very close, decided to move together.

They picked Reesa’s three-bedroom rental over the small studio apartment Legion’s job provided. Although they weren’t married, Legion covered all of Reesa’s rent and bills. «He was paying all the bills, and he was being, as he called, ’a provider,’ and I had never in my life experienced that before,» Reesa continued.

Reesa, due to her beliefs, felt uneasy about living together without being married. But the financial help was too tempting to resist.

«This isn’t going to make me look good, but it’s the truth. It was intoxicating to not have to worry about how to pay the bills. It was a wonderful feeling. And I kind of pushed to the side that you’re shacking up, but you don’t have to worry right now,» Reesa explained.

First broken promises.

The relationship sped ahead, and after three months of dating, the couple were engaged and expecting a baby. But soon, Legion started making promises to Reesa and then breaking them.

It began with house hunting. Legion claimed he was financially stable from his past career in Arena football, saying he could afford a $750,000 mortgage and make cash offers on houses. He even promised to buy Reesa her dream car, a BMW X5 with a special interior, but it never happened.

Every house he tried to buy fell through, despite seemingly perfect conditions. «Most women in their right mind would have been, like, ’I’m out’. And I didn’t,» she decided to turn a blind eye to lies. Reesa started to feel suspicious and started keeping an audio diary to track her concerns.

A week after losing out on their first potential family home, Reesa had a miscarriage and needed surgery. Instead of taking her to the hospital, Legion prioritized an alleged business meeting about his promotion to CEO.

In the fall of 2020, Reesa thought her husband had been promoted to CEO at his company. However, despite this, he continued to wear T-shirts to work, claiming he was always on the production floor. They tried to buy three more houses, but each deal fell through. In one instance, Legion made a big cash bid, but the sellers asked for proof of funds, causing a deadlock. Their real estate agent, Scott, said he couldn’t continue working with them until they provided proof of funds to his agency.

She also admitted to ignoring these warning signs for three reasons: she feared being alone, she was concerned about the appearance of a short-lived relationship, and she was eager to get married.

Reesa and Legion got married in January 2021.

Legion and Reesa decided to pause their search for both a house and a car and got married in January 2021. But by the end of that month, Reesa felt something was wrong, «I kinda knew I was in trouble.» She memorized her new husband’s social security number from the marriage certificate and ran a background check, finding nothing.

Legion started making strange claims, saying their neighbor was hitting on him. He began coming home later than usual, around six or seven, after always being back by 4 p.m. for nearly a year. He said he was looking at houses again with his friend, who coincidentally was also named Scott.

Once, he made up a story about Reesa’s ex visiting their house, looking for her. During a dinner date, he pointed out a building his company supposedly bought, but when Reesa asked to see his office, he claimed it was closed and his badge wouldn’t work after a call to the security guard.

In April, after Reesa discovered Facebook messages of Legion flirting in a very free manner with seven other women, they began couple’s counseling. After a fight about Legion’s secret bank account during a session, the counselor suggested that their marriage would not last long.

Despite this, Reesa and Legion didn’t consider separating. Instead, they resumed house-hunting, this time with a realtor named Amber. When Amber requested proof of funds as part of the usual pre-approval process, Reesa decided to step back from the search.

The truth started coming out.

By late April, Reesa began seeking a new job in hopes of earning more money to pay off her car without relying on Legion. During the application process for one job, she had to fill out a background check form, including details about her spouse. This time, the number he gave matched reality. Another background check revealed the truth: Legion had fabricated his entire past.

For more than a year, Legion had been pretending to have daily conversations with his family, friends, and colleagues. Additionally, he wasn’t actually a vice president at a condiment company, he worked as a temporary forklift driver.

He hadn’t lived in California, never played pro football, and when she contacted the school, they had no records of his Social Security number. When Reesa confronted Legion, he claimed his father had arranged for him to be a «private citizen,» so the school didn’t record his information. Around the same time, he told Reesa that his ex-stepdaughter had died suddenly, and he wanted to send his ex-wife $2,000 for the funeral.

Turned out his ex-wife was the one who filed for divorce. His claimed wealth was a lie too, as he’d claimed poverty during divorce proceedings. Phone calls to his ex-wife and family unveiled a pattern of deceit, including fake deaths and undisclosed ex-wives. His ex-wife warned Reesa that Legion was a «master manipulator and whatever he tells you is a lie.»

She kicked Legion out and started the divorce process.

In a smart move, Reesa decided not to confront her husband about her discoveries and continued investigating quietly. On June 17, Legion’s birthday, Reesa confronted him about her findings. She changed the locks, disposed of his belongings, and prepared her divorce documents.

While Legion moved to Philadelphia, more information surfaced. One of his cousins contacted Reesa, questioning the story Legion had told the family about his wife cheating with a policeman. The cousin revealed that family members Legion claimed had died had actually passed away years ago.

Reesa also spoke with Legion’s older brother, Chris, who she thought Legion talked to on the phone every morning. However, Chris hadn’t spoken to Legion since 2015. Legion’s twin brother also wasn’t in frequent contact. Coincidentally, Legion’s twin brother lived a life similar to the one Legion fabricated through lies: he is actually a CEO at his company, drives a luxury car, is married, and resides in a four-bedroom house in Nashville.

Later, a woman Reesa thought was Legion’s aunt called, asking about their nonexistent baby. Reesa discovered that images Legion had shown her of his bank accounts, company car, and former house in San Diego were actually downloaded from the internet.

Life after.

Their divorce was finalized in August 2021.

Reesa has experienced a really deep trauma, as she confesses, «I don’t really get excited anymore. I’m terrified to get excited, because I went through a whole year and some change of getting excited only for it to be stripped away. I do still believe in love. I do still believe in marriage. I do still want that.»

While recording the series helped her find relief, she admits therapy has been key, «It is still very much a journey of healing, self-reflection and simply, loving myself way more than to put myself through that, or anything even like that, ever again.»

If this story has made you sad and disappointed in love, read our next article about the couple, who has been married for 84 years, and their powerful secret to long-lasting marriage.