Looking back! Things got messy in the TikTok world in March 2021. Now, Josh Richards and Mads Lewis are looking back at everything surrounding themselves, Nessa Barrett and Jaden Hossler.
“I feel like there’s a lot of characters in that little friend group and I am friends with none of them,” Mads shared on the Barstool Sports’ “BFFs” podcast in March 2022, nearly a year after the drama went down. “Except for Josh.”
As fans know, Mads dated Jaden and in March 2021, eagle-eyed fans started to speculate that they had split after she deleted photos of them off her Instagram. Then, other social media users noticed that Mads unfollowed both Jaden and Nessa, which led to rumors about what really went down between the three. How did Josh fit in? Well, Mads uploaded then deleted a TikTok video — which has since been reposted online — set to Taylor Swift‘s “Better Than Revenge.” At first, the short clip showed moments from Mads and Jaden’s relationship and it suddenly jumped to pictures of the “Angels & Demons” singer and Nessa as the background music said: “She took him faster than you can say sabotage.”
Initially, Josh spoke out on Barstool Sports’ “BFFs” podcast and addressed rumors surrounding his ex-girlfriend, Nessa, and best friend, Jaden. “So, I think that Jaden and Mads obviously broke up, that’s evident,” Josh explained. “And, I guess, she just doesn’t like Ness. They’re not fans of each other.”
He further addressed Mads’ TikTok on a separate episode of the podcast and said he was “sad” about the entire situation. “First, I want to say, I’m always going to be that guy that wants to believe my best friend … because exes do crazy ass s–t,” the former Sway House member explained at the time.
“I love Nessa. I think she’s the most amazing girl in the world,” he said when explaining why the situation has taken such a toll on him. “I’m looking at this video and I see two people that I love, they’re my family … The possibility of, f–k, I can lose both of these people. That’s what made me sad.”
The podcast host further explained that he and Nessa are currently on a break and haven’t had much contact. That being said, Josh said that Jaden immediately reached out to him after Mads posted the video. “At the end of the day, the truth is going to come out,” Josh said. Nessa and Jaden have since taken their relationship public.
Looking back at the situation during the March 2022 “BFFs” episode, Josh said he was “in denial” about the entire thing, which is why he didn’t believe Mads at first.
“I was like, ‘Yo, my bad. I guess I was wrong,'” Josh said in March 2022 of his eventual apology to Mads. “I actually said, ‘I’m sorry.’ … It was pretty much right after I found out.”
Scroll through our gallery for a complete timeline of the drama.
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