In a short time, Tareasa Johnson became famous on the internet. She goes by Reesa Teesa online. Her video series called “WHO DID I MARRY?” has caught the attention of 122 million viewers. In these videos, Johnson talks about her six-month marriage to a man she says was “a pathological liar.
How it started.
In her first interview since becoming internet famous, she admitted she didn’t expect her videos to get so much attention. “Whether people agree with me or not, I wanted to start conversations about things we usually ignore because we’re too focused on what we want,” she said.
She also shared that sharing her story made her feel less alone. “As I read messages from other women who’ve been through similar things, I’ve started giving myself some understanding,” she said. “At first, I felt like I was the only one who fell for this.”
“I’m going to tell the story of how I met, dated, married, and divorced a real liar,” she started her story. “I’ll be honest, even if it doesn’t make me look good. But I won’t disrespect anyone involved.”
Reesa met her ex-husband, who she calls Legion, in March 2020. They met on two dating websites where he used different names. Reesa saw this as a warning sign.
During their first call, Legion said he moved from California to Georgia for a new job as a regional manager at a big company. He said he grew up in Philadelphia and married a woman with two kids there. He claimed he caught his wife cheating, leading to their divorce, but he stayed close to his ex-stepchildren. He also mentioned playing something called “Arena Football,” which Reesa didn’t know about. He said he worked as an IT guy at Apple during his off-seasons.
Their first date almost didn’t happen because Reesa got a flat tire. But Legion fixed it and bought her a new one. At dinner, they talked about getting married and having a family. Legion said all the right things to make Reesa feel special. “He was funny and charming,” she said. “After talking to him, I felt like he was the one.”
Moving together.
Within two weeks of meeting, Reesa and Legion decided to move in together. They chose Reesa’s three-bedroom rental over Legion’s small studio apartment provided by his job. Even though they weren’t married, Legion covered all of Reesa’s rent and bills. “He was paying everything, calling himself a provider, which I had never experienced before,” Reesa said.
Reesa felt uneasy about living together without being married, but the financial help was too tempting to resist. “It felt great not having to worry about bills, even though I knew it wasn’t right,” she explained.
Their relationship moved quickly. After three months of dating, they got engaged and found out they were expecting a baby. But Legion started making promises he couldn’t keep.
He talked about buying a house and even promised to get Reesa her dream car, but it never happened. Reesa ignored the lies, even though she felt suspicious. She started keeping an audio diary to track her concerns.
When Reesa had a miscarriage and needed surgery, Legion didn’t take her to the hospital because he had a supposed business meeting about his promotion to CEO.
In the fall of 2020, Reesa thought her husband had been promoted to CEO, but he still dressed casually for work. They tried to buy three more houses, but each deal fell through. Legion even made a big cash bid once, but the sellers asked for proof of funds, causing problems. Their real estate agent couldn’t continue working with them until they provided proof of funds to his agency.
Reesa ignored these warning signs because she didn’t want to be alone, she was worried about having a short-lived relationship, and she was eager to get married.
