A Woman's Boyfriend Abandoned Her And Their Baby & Forgot All His Work Equipment — So She's Using It To Get Revenge
When he bailed on them for another woman after moving them cross-country, she adopted a new motto: don't get mad, get merch.
@morganbaiiley / TikTok When a TikToker's boyfriend walked out on her to be with another woman, she wasn't about to take it laying down.
Suddenly saddled with single motherhood out of nowhere just months into their daughter's life, she decided to settle the score by starting a business calling out her ex's abandonment.
When her boyfriend abandoned her and their baby, she got even by creating merch mocking her ex.
TikToker @morganbaiiley's story is sadly a familiar one — she got pregnant with her and her ex's baby, they moved in together, and no sooner did they get settled that her boyfriend upped stakes and moved in with another woman, leaving her high and dry with their newborn. That would be bad enough, but that's only the half of it. Not only did he abandon them, but he allegedly did so on her birthday — which also happens to be Valentine's Day.
But luckily for him (and deeply, profoundly unfortunately for him) there was a silver lining. One that allowed her to serendipitously monetize his abandonment and dog him out at the same time. It's a story of "don't get mad, get merch" if you will.
In a recent video, Morgan shared that "it's been 6 months since my baby daddy dumped me to move in with his ex-girlfriend on my birthday and left me with nothing but his tiny little child and his T-shirt presses."
"So what do you do when that happens in life?" she went on to say. "You make merch and you sell it, and you get rich off pain!"
She then showed off an array of apparel she made with the derisive nickname she's given her ex that has become a catchphrase in the side of TikTok poring over every detail of her fight to recover from her deadbeat ex's abandonment: "From some random man in Atlanta," a reference to where she and her ex met.
Morgan made sweatshirts, t-shirts, blankets and even little onesies and bibs for she and her ex's adorable baby. "Somebody tell that random man in Atlanta we said tread lightly, okay?" she joked before adding, "literally go buy the merch!" (Which you can do at this link if you're so inclined.)
Photo: @morganbaiiley / TikTok
Morgan's drama with her ex has developed a major following on social media.
Bailing on your baby and girlfriend on her birthday is bad enough. But after she received some backlash from commenters (including her ex himself) criticizing her for publicly dogging him out, Morgan posted more videos that revealed so much more about what went down. Turns out, the fact that her boyfriend abandoned her and their baby is only the half of it.
"Yeah, I am a bitter baby mom," Morgan said in a since-deleted video referencing the criticisms she's gotten, "anybody would be a bitter baby mom if you literally just had a C-section 30 days ago" — a c-section she says nearly killed her and her baby — "and you moved up to Michigan, cause that's what your boyfriend wanted to do, and then he leaves you with a C-section and his baby to take care of, and then moves in with his ex-girlfriend on your birthday, which is also Valentine's Day."
Whew! Did you catch all that? She went on to reveal that she was also supporting them both financially, paid for the move and the new apartment in Michigan — and that her ex has five other kids he's had with women with whom he cheated on the woman he just left her for.
Kinda seems like merch making fun of him is a downright merciful payback.
Now her boyfriend's other exes and the mothers of his other children have taken to TikTok too to expose him.
As so often happens, this story could have just stayed contained to its one little corner of TikTok. But her ex decided to expose his identity himself in an attempt to win the narrative. And hoo boy, has it not worked out for him.
Several of his other exes with whom he's had kids have also come forward on TikTok to expose this "random man in Atlanta," and they're all not only corroborating Morgan's characterization of him but also exposing the way he's treated them too. And the hits. just. keep. coming.
One of the women reported a similar situation to Morgan's — that the "random man in Atlanta" basically has no connection to their child together and doesn't support them in any way, financial or otherwise.
Of course, many of us are prone to think that forgiveness is more honorable than vengeance, and that may be true. But the impacts of being abandoned by a deadbeat parent are very real — for both parents and children. For kids, it can mean everything from attachment issues and low self-esteem to mental health conditions like depression and anxiety, and these impacts can be lifelong.
So in the grand scheme of things, t-shirts making fun of him is a drop in the bucket compared to the potential harm this "random man in Atlanta" is doing to his half-dozen kids. Another mother of another one of his abandoned children put it perfectly in her own TikTok video.
Photo: @dreaa_jenaee / TikTok
"We all know how karma is," she said. "Eventually, it comes back, and karma? She don't play."
No, she sure don't. And until then, it's "don't get mad, get merch."
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.