After a woman shared a joke that her boyfriend had two phone lock screens, commenters threw 'red flag' concerns and urged her to break up with him

• A woman's video about her boyfriend having multiple lockscreens went viral on TikTok.
• The video and follow-up clips were flooded with comments saying she should break up with him.
• The creator told Insider the video was a joke and that her boyfriend doesn't switch lockscreens.

An apparent joke between a young couple took a serious turn on TikTok this week. And it involved something seemingly benign: iPhone lock screens.

On Monday, a woman shared a video claiming her boyfriend had multiple lock screens on his phone for different purposes: one of the two of them, and another, of his car, when he's supposedly with "the boys." The video, which used the tag "is he cheating," garnered over 8 million views and sparked an outcry of concern that this was a "red flag" in their relationship.

But the creator, a 27-year-old healthcare worker named Lisa, told Insider on Thursday that the video was a "joke," and her boyfriend, Andy, doesn't actually rotate phone screens when he's not with her. On TikTok, she's been trying to continue the gag, but viewers don't seem aware that it was all a joke. They're vehement that she's "in denial" — and some have begun hurling insults, like calling her delusional, for continuing to stay in the relationship.

How viewers became overly involved in a poorly conveyed 'joke' about lock screens

Though the tone of her original video was silly, many commenters responded soberly, claiming her boyfriend's behavior was enough of a reason to end the relationship. They did not realize it was all a ruse.

"Cant trust him," one comment with over 5,000 likes said. "Break up. It's over."

"You can do better girl. Leave him," someone else wrote with a heart emoticon.

Lisa extended the joke in a couple of follow-up videos. In one clip, she filmed Andy applying sunscreen because of how intensely the audience roasted him. In another, she showed a display of red balloons Andy created to celebrate her video reaching a million views — a nod to strangers calling him a red flag.

Despite these playful gags, many viewers did not pick up the tone, and held their conviction that he was possibly cheating on her. Soon, comments began interrogating her character as well.

"I'm telling you she needs therapy bro," someone commented on the balloon video; "she's delusional like me," another viewer added.

"It's kind of crazy that people can make assumptions without really knowing the whole picture," Lisa, who's based in New York and who asked to be referred by her first name only to maintain her privacy, told Insider. 

Despite the original video being somewhat of a farce, Lisa said she does understand why her comment section got so heated — and how having multiple lock screens might signal infidelity or secrecy in a relationship. Or, she noted, it could also mean nothing at all. 

"I do think it could be a red flag, for sure, but again, it all comes down to the context of what's really going on," she said. 

Lisa said her boyfriend, Andy, was more surprised than hurt at the immense backlash.

"He kept joking that he's becoming the most hated person on earth, and that in his next relationship, if there is one, that he's done for," she said. 

Andy has become 'the Lexus lock screen guy,' and the couple said they've even been approached in public

In a statement relayed through Lisa, Andy told Insider that he is "still in shock" that the video even went viral in the first place. "I had no idea people had such strong feelings about this matter," he said. 

He confirmed that it was a joke between them and that he doesn't actually change his iPhone lock screens when he's not with Lisa. In fact, he said he will rotate between the picture of them and a picture of their cat.

"I have another lock screen with a Lexus, which is the same one I purchased a few months ago. I jokingly mentioned to Lisa that this one was for the boys and we both decided to make it into a funny video," he said.

The video has gone so viral that family and friends, including some who have not had contact with the couple in years, have personally reached out to them about it. According to Lisa, strangers have even approached the two in public in New York this week and asked Andy if he was the "Lexus lock screen guy."

Despite the sudden notoriety, Andy isn't upset, and the two aren't breaking up. 

"He's not angry about it, but he is kind of shocked about how his face is everywhere and that people might think he's a red flag now because of all of this," Lisa said. "But it doesn't matter because I don't think he's a red flag, and that's all that matters."

"I guess being referred as the Lexus lock screen guy isn't too bad," Andy added.