On occasion, a TikTok moment will erupt so fiercely that it thrusts news writers around the globe into detective-adjacent explainer mode. The so-called “Couch Guy” saga is one such example.
The still-in-progress rigmarole of sorts brings together a number of key ingredients for virality, with both makeshift sleuthing and external relationship dissections carrying the bulk of the resulting narrative load. All of this equates to the ideal formula for the perfect social media storm, and that’s exactly what the “Couch Guy” story has become.
Below, we attempt to boil the latest TikToktroversy down to a few main questions (and answers).
In September, TikTok user @laurenzarras shared a video, captioned “robbie had no idea,” showing what she said was a surprise visit to her boyfriend at college. A door is seen being opened, at which point the boyfriend in question (Robbie) is seen looking up to find that his girlfriend (Lauren) has indeed surprised him with a visit.
All pretty remarkably mundane, no? Well, due to where Robbie was sitting at the time the clip was taken, many quickly took a proverbial magnifying glass to the proceedings.
The theories came quickly, with particular attention paid to what some have perceived as the boyfriend’s delay in reacting to the surprise, with others also arguing that the presence of three other women on the couch automatically implies infidelity.
You can even very easily find a slew of videos on YouTube and elsewhere in which entire arguments are presented centering on body language and other facets of the clip. Here’s one of them:
Also mentioned frequently among impassioned responses to the clip is a theory revolving around a phone, with some claiming to see a quick sleight-of-hand moment upon the girlfriend’s entry. See more of what people are saying below.
Even The View got in on the debate:
In a recent TikTok post under the @souljawatchambassador account, Robbie—a.k.a. “Couch Guy” himself—told critics “ur welcome for getting u off berries & cream tiktok.” He also pointed out that “not everything is true crime,” advising those now invested in the saga to seek out “some fresh air.”
In another video, Mr. Couch Guy responded to those arguing that this smacked of gaslighting, asking one user if they know what the word means. To further prove his point, a choice was proposed in which followers were asked to identify which option was an example of gaslighting.
“Are you being gaslit if…Someone on the internet tells you to get some fresh air after you scrutinize their private life OR Are you being gaslit if…thousands of strangers call you delusional for claiming to know your own relationship better than they do,” he said.
Lauren has also issued a number of responses to the commentary surrounding her original upload, saying at one point that it breaks her heart to see people bringing “so much negativity” to what she considered a “special moment” in the relationship.
More importantly, she also confirmed to insistent critics that she actually knows the women seen on the couch in the original video, later urging everyone to “stop the hate” in the comments.
“My boyfriend and I are literally obsessed with each other and are in contact with each other, like, every minute of the day,” she said.
At the very least, we can expect some official “Couch Guy” merch.
“Since you guys seem to really love Couch Guy TikTok, my dad thought it would be funny and a cool idea to actually make t-shirts,” Lauren said in a video shared this week. The shirts feature an animated depiction of Robbie, sans the other couch guests, and come in a variety of colorways.
Parodies of the original clip that started it all will also likely persist for at least a few more days, at least until the next explainer-spurring moment comes along.
