A TikTok content creator, @rileymadison00, went viral after sharing a list of things her narcissistic ex-husband did during their marriage that she once thought were normal. The video has amassed nearly 11 million views and more than 15,000 comments. Riley described several behaviors she now recognizes as manipulative, controlling, and rooted in insecurity, but said she didn't see them that way until after she separated from him.
Riley began by describing an incident involving a worker from the internet company. She explained that when an installation technician came to set up the Wi-Fi, her husband forced her to stay on a FaceTime call with him the entire time so he could have proof that she wouldn't be intimate with the worker.
@rileymadison00 I could go on all day #divorce #divorcetok #divorcetiktok #narc #narcissist #narctok #narcissism #messytiktok #messytiktok #toxic #toxicmarriage #toxicmasculinity #marriage #exhusband #narcissisticabuserecovery #narcissisticrelationship #gaslighting
♬ original sound - Riley Madison??
Even after having proof from the FaceTime call, however, Riley said her husband still accused her of being intimate with the Wi-Fi worker. According to Riley, he argued that she could have done so before she FaceTimed him or after the call ended.
She said the second abnormal thing her ex-husband did was refuse to wish her a happy birthday for the entire day, only doing so right before she fell asleep. Riley said he did this just two months after they got married.
Riley then said that he convinced her to become a stay-at-home wife and manipulated her into not getting a job, only to later blame her for not working and accuse her of using him whenever they experienced financial problems. Essentially, she said he blamed her for following his leadership.
If that wasn't enough, Riley said he also became upset when her parents had to buy them groceries because of their financial situation.
Riley Said Her Ex-Husband Questioned Their Son's Paternity and Wanted Multiple Wives
Riley went on to explain that her ex-husband neglected her, often spending more time with his family and friends and only coming home to have dinner with her once or twice a week.
She then said that for Christmas, instead of buying her a thoughtful gift, he gave her his debit card and told her she could get something "nice" for herself with the $50 that remained on it. Still, Riley said she didn't see anything wrong with the behavior at the time.
He also criticized the way she folded his clothes and told her she was doing it wrong. Riley pointed out that he never took the time to wash clothes or do the laundry himself, so she questioned how he knew the "right" way to fold them.
But the behavior didn't stop there.
Riley said that after about a year of marriage, her ex-husband told her that he wanted multiple wives while she was pregnant. She said he then became angry when she was upset by the statement.
When their son was born, Riley said her ex-husband didn't believe that he was the father. She advised him to get a paternity test, but he refused. Instead, she said he accused her of sleeping with his brother and claimed that a DNA test would be so similar that it could show the child was his even if the brother was actually the father.
Finally, Riley said the electricity went out in two rooms of their house, including the bathroom, while their washing machine also broke. She said she asked her ex-husband to fix the issues for more than nine months, but he told her that people decades ago didn't have these luxuries and that she should be grateful to experience them.
Ultimately, she said he never fixed the washing machine.
Many reactions to the video couldn't believe that she even got married to someone like this. Others said that victims of gaslighting and manipulation can often begin to accept behaviors that are way below the normal human standard over time, especially when they're in a relationship with a narcissist.
One commenter wrote, "No one realizes how gaslighting truly makes you disassociate."
Another commenter said, "It's literally so crazy how you think, 'How could she tolerate that' until it happens so slowly that you don't notice and then one day you're just in."
A separate commenter said they shared the same washing machine experience and had to wash in a tub. They wrote, "This was me! Even the washing machine. I had to wash clothes in the tub. They threw the basket at me because I washed and folded the wrong socks lol."
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the events described in the video, which are based solely on @rileymadison00's account shared on TikTok.
