A couple that went viral for living inside of a self-storage facility have been kicked out of their unit.
Last week, Leland Brown Jr. uploaded a video of himself and his partner inconspicuously moving into a storage unit. The father and creator had been documenting his journey of homelessness on TikTok since last March and was living in a tent with his partner in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, which is 30 miles north of Philadelphia, per his GoFundMe page.
“Me and my girl testing, we trying to figure out if this is good enough to be sneaky and hide and stuff. We’re trying to hide this shit,” he says in the video.
Behind a few intentionally stacked cardboard boxes, Brown Jr. had their living quarters set up inside of the unit complete with a couch, dresser, and other furnishings. In other videos, he explains that the climate-controlled building, with bathrooms and 24 hour access is actually very comfortable. He can exercise, play music through a Bluetooth speaker, charge their devices on outlets, and cook outside if he needs to.
Brown Jr., who maintains a job at a hotel, says he figured that he could live in the unit until he saved enough money for legitimate housing.
“Me and my baby will live here as long as we need to until we can get the shelter that we want,” he said. “Because we’re living here, now we can save up more money to get what we really want. We’re in it for the long haul.”
Their videos quickly went viral, with their second update reaching a hefty 11.8 million views on TikTok. However, things took a turn when the building’s management discovered Brown Jr.’s uploads and subsequently kicked him out.
“We got kicked out of our storage unit. The higher ups found out about my video. It went so viral, we ended up getting kicked out. Now we’re just trying to figure out where to go and what we’re going to do with all of our stuff,” he said in a video uploaded on Friday. “Figured I was gonna get kicked out, but I’m willing to take risks and have a crazy come up.”
Brown Jr. says they considered moving to a different storage unit, as opposed to going back to their tent with the freezing temperatures outside. However, a good samaritan caught wind of the couple’s situation and put them up in a hotel for a few days.
“We’ll be staying at this hotel for a couple days for free,” said Brown Jr. in his latest update. “I’m just grateful that somebody is thinking of us like that on that level and willing to give us their resources like that. We’re gonna have a good time and relax for once.”
The clip ends with the two in front of the hotel TV enjoying food courtesy of the woman who get them off the streets. It’s unclear what the couple’s next steps are once their hotel stay is done.
