A Philadelphia couple was evicted after a TikTok video of them living in a storage unit went viral, the Atlanta Black Star reported Saturday.
The video Leland Desmond Brown Jr., 28, posted on TikTok explaining why he was living in a storage unit rather than an apartment got tens of millions of views, the outlet reported. Brown said he and his girlfriend planned on saving money for an RV and, eventually, a home, according to the newspaper.
After the video went viral, however, the storage unit’s management sent Brown an eviction notice which cited a violation of the terms of the facility’s contract, according to the outlet. The couple was given until the end of January to vacate the premises, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Virginia Home Sells Despite Squatter Living In Basement)
The Philadelphia man who went viral for demonstrating his living arrangements in a storage unit last week has since been KICKED out! Read more: https://t.co/7bABNelw8S pic.twitter.com/sTV0sVSfnO
— TheShadeRoom (@TheShadeRoom) January 20, 2024
“So we got kicked out of our storage unit,” Brown said in a new post. “The higher-ups found out about my video and went so viral we ended up getting kicked out. Now we’re just trying to figure out where to go and what we’re going to do with all of our stuff.”
There have been other high-profile cases of families trying to seek shelter in storage units, according to the Atlanta Black Star. In 2019, for example, a North Dakota man died in a storage unit fire, and, in 2017, a Kansas man was charged with child endangerment for living in a unit with his two children, the outlet reported.
After this week’s eviction, Brown and his girlfriend received an invitation from a good Samaritan for a free weekend hotel stay, the outlet reported.
“I’m just grateful that somebody is thinking of us like that on that level and willing to give us their resources like that,” Brown said. “We’re gonna have a good time and relax for once.”
Brown and his girlfriend are currently trying to figure out where to go next and who they can call for help, according to the outlet.