'I have come to tolerate looks of vague recognition and occasional selfie requests from strangers in public,' he shared. 'Exacerbating these invasions of my privacy was the tabloid-style media coverage that I received,' he shared, explaining that it made 'me, a private citizen who had previously enjoyed his minimal internet presence, an unwilling recipient of the celebrity treatment.'Īlthough Robert said 'my memedom has died down,' he admitted that he still gets approached by people. (I did not respond.) One viewer gleefully commented, 'Even if this guy turned off his phone, he can't escape the couch guy notifications.'' He recalled, 'For instance, when a resident in my apartment building posted a TikTok video, which accumulated 2.3 million views, of himself slipping a note under my door to request an interview. In real life, he said that people also began to bother him at his home.

Robert explained that people went as far as trying to uncover personal details about his identity, including his 'name, birthdate and place of residence,' adding 'the threat of doxxing loomed over my head.' He continued, 'During my tenure as Couch Guy, I was the subject of frame-by-frame body language analyses, armchair diagnoses of psychopathy, comparisons to convicted murderers, and general discussions about my 'bad vibes.''

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