My Friends Call Me Tag | BONUS

Summary

Love Trapped – Bonus Episode: “My Friends Call Me Tag”

Released March 25, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this bonus installment of Love Trapped, host Stephanie delves deeper into one of the online personas believed to have been used by Laura Owens, a central figure in the season-long investigation. This episode centers on the mysterious “Tag”—an alleged ex-boyfriend of Laura—who sent cryptic, manipulative emails to several online content creators reporting on the case. Through first-hand accounts from podcasters Megan Fox and Lauren Nighty, listeners get an inside look at the lengths to which someone went to influence the conversation and shift the narrative online.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Introduction of “Tag” ([02:25])

• Stephanie revisits the list of online personas tied to Laura. She introduces an additional alleged identity: “Tag.”
• Megan Fox, a journalist and YouTube podcaster who covered the case, is introduced as a new voice.

Tag’s Mysterious Outreach ([03:08])

• Megan recalls receiving several emails from “Tag,” who claimed to be Laura’s ex-boyfriend from 2015-2016.

• “Tag” claimed he was driven by guilt and desired to fill in “critical information holes” for the online sleuths covering Laura’s case.

  “My friends call me Tag. And over the past few months, I have been following the situation regarding Laura Owens, a woman I dated and was involved with intimately from mid late 2015 to 2016.”
  — Tag (read by Megan Fox) [03:25]

Suspicious Motives, Suspicious Language ([03:53])

• Tag’s stated intention was to help victims and expose the truth. However, his emails included cutting personal critiques of other creators, especially Dave Neal, another content creator.

  “He and I have zero connection or personal history, yet I was immediately revulsed by literally almost all of his content from day one. Frankly, he's an unfunny vulgarian, and I take serious issue with him calling himself a journalist.”
  — Tag (read by Megan Fox) [04:11]

• Megan found the negative, specific attacks reminiscent of the language Laura herself would use. Most notably, Dave Neal is widely liked in the community, so such intense dislike seemed “suspicious.”

  "You can't hate Dave. Dave is great. Dave is very difficult to hate. I mean, nobody hates Dave like this. Except Laura."
  — Megan Fox [04:34]

Attempts to Verify Tag’s Identity ([05:20])

• Megan tried to verify if Tag was a real person by requesting a phone conversation. Each time, Tag made excuses, notably claiming international travel (“I’m on a train in Vienna”).

• Megan concluded that refusal to verify was a major red flag:

  “If someone won't actually get on the phone with you, it's a very good sign that they're not who they say they are.”
  — Megan Fox [05:25]

Tag Contacts a Second Content Creator ([06:00])

• Lauren Nighty, a YouTuber and hospital psych evaluator, also receives emotionally charged emails from Tag.

• Tag’s message to Lauren similarly aimed to invoke sympathy for Laura (“she was struggling with suicidal thoughts”).

  “He tried to convince me basically that Laura really was like sick and he really was worried that she was going to do something to hurt herself.”
  — Lauren Nighty [07:34]

• Lauren responded with empathy, consistent with her professional background, but also asked Tag to verify his identity. After her reply, Tag ceased communication.

  “And they didn't respond. And I tried again to say… will you please talk to me and verify your identity as you offered to do? And it was like I never heard back again after that.”
  — Lauren Nighty [08:00]

Comparing Notes – Tag’s Manipulative Tactics ([08:20])

• Lauren and Megan connected offline and realized they had both received emails from Tag.

• They found that while the tone of the messages differed, both included flattery toward the recipient and derogatory comments about other creators (notably Dave Neal).

• The theory emerged: Tag was possibly Laura herself, attempting to shape the narrative by pitting creators against each other and drawing sympathy for her position.

  "Both of them have in common that he tried to basically gas us up to make us feel good about ourselves while putting down other people like Dave."
  — Lauren Nighty [08:28]

Finale – The Tag Persona’s Purpose ([08:47])

• The two never confirmed the true identity of Tag, but they reasoned that the purpose was to “report on this and be like, hey, someone from Laura's past came out and said this is actually true,” in an effort to discredit critics and rally support for Laura.

• Ultimately, the apparent attempt at emotional manipulation and narrative control was unsuccessful and possibly backfired.

  “…If it was Laura behind these emails from Tag, she might have done it to try to get sympathy from people online, but it seems to have backfired.”
  — Stephanie [09:05]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Megan Fox [05:25]: “If someone won't actually get on the phone with you, it's a very good sign that they're not who they say they are.”
• Lauren Nighty [06:26]: “I have to determine what's the basis for the things you're saying and what's the motivation behind these things… And that's what I was seeing in Laura. I was seeing a lot of these threats being made for a means to an end.”
• Lauren Nighty [08:47]: “I think that the idea of TAG was to report on this and be like, hey, someone from Laura's past came out and said like this is actually true, to get people talking online about how her story was not made up basically, and it didn't work.”

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Episode Structure & Timestamps

• [02:25] – Introduction of the Tag persona
• [03:08] – Megan’s recounting of her interactions with Tag
• [04:11] – Tag’s attacks on Dave Neal, suspicion arises
• [05:25] – Megan’s attempt to verify Tag’s identity fails
• [06:00] – Lauren recounts receiving similar emails from Tag
• [07:27] – Lauren’s background and how she got involved
• [08:20] – Lauren and Megan compare notes, conclude manipulation
• [08:47] – Theorizing Tag’s purpose, the scheme backfires

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Conclusion

This bonus episode offers a gripping glimpse behind the scenes as internet sleuths cross-examine the waves of manipulation swirling around the ongoing Laura Owens scandal. Stephanie, Megan, and Lauren lay bare the challenges of digital journalism amidst lies, faux personas, and targeted emotional appeals—raising critical questions about credibility and the complexities of truth in an online world.

Transcript

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[Stephanie]

Hey, it's Stephanie, back with a bonus episode. We talked in episode five about the Personas Laura allegedly used online. There was one more alleged Persona that we didn't have time to get into. So in this bonus episode, we want to bring you a scene that was cut for time. During my research, I talked to many of the online content creators covering this case, and there's a few you haven't met yet, like Megan Fox and. No, not the actress Megan Fox. This Megan is a journalist and a podcaster on YouTube. You'll hear more from her in upcoming episodes. When I talked to Megan, I asked her if Laura ever contacted her directly.

[Podcast Host]

No, not once. Well, okay, let me take that back. That's not true. She may have, because I did get several emails from Tag.

[Stephanie]

A man named Tag started emailing content creators claiming to be Laura's ex boyfriend, Megan.

[Podcast Host]

My friends call me Tag. And over the past few months, I have been following the situation regarding Laura Owens, a woman I dated and was involved with intimately from mid late 2015 to 2016. I am not fully ready to come forward publicly with my story, but am willing to support you and the other victims specifically with what I feel could be valuable background information and help fill in some critical information holes.

[Stephanie]

Tagg said that he just wanted the truth about Laura Owens to come out. He admits to feeling a lot of guilt over their alleged relationship, noting that he didn't truly understand the situation while he was in it. Tagg then turns his attention to Dave Neal. Here's Megan reading that part of Tagg's email.

[Podcast Host]

He and I have zero connection or personal history, yet I was immediately revulsed by literally almost all of his content from day one. Frankly, he's an unfunny vulgarian, and I take serious issue with him calling himself a journalist.

[Stephanie]

For Megan, this was immediately suspicious. Most people love Dave Neal.

[Podcast Host]

You can't hate Dave. Dave is great. Dave is very difficult to hate. I mean, nobody hates Dave like this. Except Laura.

[Stephanie]

Megan decided not to report on the email from Tag.

[Lauren Nighty]

To her.

[Stephanie]

The language sounded suspiciously similar to the kind of thing Laura Owens often says. But Tag's emails kept coming.

[Podcast Host]

So one of the things that did throw me off. In the second email that Tag sent, Tag gave up some information about Chase J. Jones.

[Stephanie]

Remember, Chase J. Jones was the Howard University student trying to cancel Clayton, a character that allegedly led straight back to Laura's phone number for Megan. The fact that Tag knew Chase J. Jones was too convenient.

[Podcast Host]

It's gotta be Laura.

[Stephanie]

Megan Decided to try and verify to see if Tag was who he said he was.

[Podcast Host]

I tried to get this person on the phone and this person said they would be available, and then nothing. And every time I would say, let's get on the phone, there'd be some excuse, oh, I'm traveling through Vienna. That was my favorite. I'm on a train in Vienna. If someone won't actually get on the phone with you, it's a very good sign that they're not who they say they are.

[Stephanie]

Even still, Megan kept her suspicions to

[Podcast Host]

herself and never mentioned it to anyone publicly until Tag started contacting Lauren.

[Stephanie]

Lauren Nighty is another YouTuber who began covering the case after seeing Laura's Reddit posts. Lauren had been following Dave Neal's content.

[Lauren Nighty]

I saw that people were kind of going in on Dave, and he was getting a lot of backlash for going after someone who people thought was either the victim or she was mentally ill.

[Stephanie]

At the time, Lauren worked as a psych evaluator at a hospital. She felt like she had professional insight into this kind of behavior.

[Lauren Nighty]

I myself had been working in the hospital for a long time as a psych evaluator who works with patients who come into the hospital, the ER who need help. And I have to determine whether or not they're actually a danger to themselves or if there's somebody who maybe needs help but can deal with this on an outpatient basis. And I had to determine what's the basis for the things that you're saying and what's the motivation behind these things. A lot of times people would say, well, I did this to get XYZ reaction from somebody, or there was a means to an end. And that's what I was seeing in Laura. I was seeing a lot of these threats being made for a means to an end. And people were going after Dave in a way that I was, like, really uncomfortable with. I was like, you guys don't understand the things that go into these evaluations and what people say and why, and that there's more to the story than just somebody made a threat. Now we all have to stop talking about it. We have to give them what they want or else. And so I kind of came to Dave's defense a little bit, and that's how I got involved.

[Stephanie]

Lauren started making her own YouTube videos discussing the case. Then in spring of 2024, I get

[Lauren Nighty]

an email from somebody claiming to be Laura's ex boyfriend named Tag, which, if you know, the Chase J. Jones story, you know, is kind of ridiculous because it's Tag and Chase. But he tried to convince me basically that Laura really was like sick and he really was worried that she was going to do something to hurt herself.

[Stephanie]

Lauren took it seriously. She didn't report on it, but she responded to Tag.

[Lauren Nighty]

I was very empathetic and responded in a way that I would respond to anybody who was dealing with a person of that kind of illness where she was struggling with suicidal thoughts. And they didn't respond. And I tried again to say, like, will you please talk to me and verify your identity as you offered to do? And it was like I never heard back again after that.

[Stephanie]

Content creators like Lauren and Megan Fox regularly talked offline about the case, and one day Lauren mentioned the Tag email

[Lauren Nighty]

to Megan, who then let me know that she had also received an email from Tag. And we compared our emails and they were very different in tone. Both of them have in common that he tried to basically gas us up to make us feel good about ourselves while putting down other people like Dave.

[Stephanie]

They were never able to prove if Tag was a real person.

[Lauren Nighty]

I think that the idea of TAG was to report on this and be like, hey, someone from Laura's past came out and said like this is actually true, to get people talking online about how her story was not made up basically, and it didn't work.

[Stephanie]

If it was Laura behind these emails from Tag, she might have done it to try to get sympathy from people online, but it seems to have backfired. Thank you so much for listening and stay tuned for new episodes and bonus content on the Love Trapped feed.

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