Smosh Reads Reddit Stories

Episode: The Lies Never End | Reading Reddit Stories

Date: February 28, 2026
Host: Shane Topp
Guests: Trevor, Arasha
Theme: Lies — exploring all flavors of dishonesty through Reddit stories and the chaos they cause.

Episode Overview

Shane and his Smosh cast couch, featuring Trevor and Arasha, explore the winding, riotously uncomfortable roads of lies told on Reddit. This episode's stories range from harmless fibs to jaw-dropping fabrications, prompting the crew to share personal reactions, cultural perspectives, and plenty of playful banter. The conversations zero in on themes like honesty in relationships, the cultural weight of food-related fibs, karmic consequences of “white lies,” and the ever-blurring lines between truth and fiction on the internet.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Spotting (and Telling) Lies

[01:36–03:12]

• How good are you at catching liars?
  • Arasha: Trusts easily and admits, "I'm really bad. I'm like a very trusting person... I just really lean on the side of trusting someone unless they give me a reason not to trust them." (03:24)
  • Trevor: Claims he’s suspicious even of honest people: “When people are telling me the truth, I think they're lying to me.” Shares a joke about not believing Amanda’s pregnancy (02:45–03:04).
• Poking fun at Smosh's own reputation for fibbing, before prepping to dive into Reddit’s finest lies.

2. Am I the Asshole: The Animal Hair Diet Lie

[03:08–17:20]
Timestamp: [03:08–17:20]

• Story: Redditor claims to be "on a diet" to avoid eating at his girlfriend’s family home, where pet hair winds up in the food. Girlfriend confronts him after the dinner; fallout ensues.
• Discussion:
  • Sympathy for the boyfriend (not the asshole verdict), especially given the grossness of the situation.
  • Shane: “Food lies are tough. I feel like they build. Cause we had that guy who lied about having a peanut allergy. And then everyone started accommodating him, and it got worse and worse.” (03:44)
  • Trevor: “Technically not a lie if your diet is that you're not eating animal hair.” (06:33)
  • Cultural perspective: In some households, refusing food is disrespectful. Trevor notes: "Especially from an Indian household...my mom is like, if you're stepping into the house, you're eating food." (07:22)
  • General consensus: OP should have clued girlfriend in rather than lied; still, the blame falls most on the circumstances, less on the lie itself.
• Memorable Quote:
  • “I never knew there was such a thing as angry sleeping, but I swear her snores are more aggressive than usual.” (Story OP, read by Shane, 06:05)
• Memorable tangent:
  • Jokes about where the boyfriend ate instead: “He got a couple of the Wicked Margs from Chili's.” (14:10, Arasha)

3. Confession: Faking a Spinal Injury for Blockbuster

[18:19–24:17]

• Story: As a teen, a Redditor faked a spinal injury using his girlfriend’s back brace to avoid paying $30 in Blockbuster late fees.
• Crew reaction:
  • “A spinal injury…late fees at Blockbuster.” (18:37, Arasha, incredulous)
  • Judged as a cautionary tale—a "karma will bite you" kind of lie, especially given the use of a real, serious event for personal gain.
  • “All that to get ‘How High’ by Method Man and Redman.” (21:14, Shane)
  • Chorus of jokes about Blockbuster's downfall:
    • “Well, unfortunately, this guy's the reason that Blockbuster went bankrupt.” (22:03, Arasha)
    • “He's the reason we have Netflix now.” (22:23, Shane)
  • Serious moment: “Faking any sort of disability is so bad and it's so damaging for people with real disabilities.” (24:32, Shane)

4. Am I the Asshole: Lying About Talent and Online Humiliation

[25:22–46:23]

• Story: A boyfriend lies to his beginner-singer girlfriend, calling her "crazy talented" and encouraging her to post on TikTok; she is later mocked on a meme page and heartbroken by the truth.
• Crew’s nuanced take:
  • Shane: As a creator, sympathizes with posting vulnerable content online, but recognized OP’s language (“crazy talented”) misled girlfriend.
    • “As a partner, [you have to] be super supportive... also be a teammate and confidant, and find a way to be honest, but positive.” (35:00)
  • Arasha: “Saying crazy talented is insane.” (30:55)
  • “Nobody that is better than you or has found success is gonna be hating. It is only people that are afraid to post themselves or again, just hiding behind the Internet.” (35:27, Trevor)
• Comparison to being on Smosh and receiving negative comments: “There’s plenty of times where I do a joke on ‘Try Not to Laugh’…and I’m like, they're gonna say I'm a cringe millennial. And it is what it is.” (29:35, Shane)
• On the importance of honest feedback: “Because it's respecting them as a person and going, I know you can handle this.” (45:18, Shane)

5. Confession: The Wikipedia "Sacre Bleu" Effect

[46:23–51:54]

• Story: Poster admits to editing K-pop idol Jo Kwon’s Wikipedia to say his former name was “Sacre Bleu” as a 14-year-old; the joke spiraled into multiple languages and media outlets.
• Group's reaction:
  • “That's hilarious.” (48:41, Arasha)
  • “It's not on the 14-year-old…this is on all those news outlets that were just using Wikipedia. You're journalists. Call the guy.” (51:34, Shane)
  • “Why was it believable?” (50:30, Trevor)
  • Segment closes with jokes about giving 14-year-olds their own internet: “14 year olds are too smart and too devious for the internet.” (50:49, Shane)

6. Family Lies: The Myth of the Threesome Marriage

[52:32–62:33]

• Story: A woman discovers her parents have been spreading a wild lie about how she met her husband, involving a made-up threesome and affair story, for a decade. Her parents refuse to admit fault, shifting blame.
• Crew’s reaction:
  • “This is a lasagna of insanity.” (56:39, Shane)
  • “Source? I made it up!” (56:18, Arasha)
  • The group floats theories (the parents’ lies as projection, possible mix-ups), but are unanimous: Not the asshole for avoiding her parents.
  • Deeper discussion about pathological liars and stories too wild not to be true.

7. Meta Mayhem: Inventing Reddit Stories is Ruining My Marriage

[64:13–76:16]

• Story: (Best of Redditor Updates) A man posts about his wife’s addiction to inventing fake, disturbing Reddit stories for TikTok clout, including fabricating a "caught my husband with my daughter" post.
• Immediate crew reaction:
  • “This is meta.” (64:44, Trevor)
  • “I'm taking your ass to therapy and if you refuse, it's over.” (Husband posts publicly) (65:04)
  • Jokes about meta-ness and the dangers of unchecked online personas.
  • Shane: “Isn’t it scary to be like, I don’t know what people are doing on the Internet, they could be making a fake account?” (74:12)
  • Update reveals therapy and improved communication.
    • “I’ve realized how much I truly love this woman and I do not ever want to push her away or lose her. So yeah, thanks to everyone for their support.” (73:33)
  • Arasha: “It scares me the amount of people that could be like that, that are just alone and doing these things and don't have anyone to hold them accountable.” (75:18)
  • Trevor: “Nobody's gonna show up perfect. If you're willing to grow with people…that really does show how much he actually cares about her because he's able to see past that.” (75:44)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [03:24, Arasha]: “I'm really bad. I'm like a very trusting person. Maybe to a fault.”
• [06:33, Trevor]: “Technically not a lie if your diet is that you're not eating animal hair.”
• [13:43, Shane]: “No matter how justified he is because it was a secret and a lie, now it just has this burden to it.”
• [18:43, Arasha]: “A spinal injury?”
• [22:03, Arasha]: “Unfortunately, this guy's the reason that Blockbuster went bankrupt.”
• [29:35, Shane]: “They're gonna say I'm a cringe millennial. And it is what it is.”
• [45:18, Shane]: “It is a respect thing when you can give honest feedback because it's respecting them as a person and going, I know you can handle this.”
• [51:34, Shane]: “This is on all those news outlets that were just using Wikipedia. You're journalists. Call the guy.”
• [56:39, Shane]: “This is a lasagna of insanity.”
• [65:04, Husband]: “I’m taking your ass to therapy and if you refuse, it's over. … This is 100% completely fabricated.”
• [73:33, Husband]: “I’ve realized how much I truly love this woman and I do not ever want to push her away or lose her.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:08] – Story 1: Am I the asshole for lying about not eating pet-hair-laden food
• [18:19] – Story 2: Blockbuster spinal injury confession
• [25:22] – Story 3: Lying about girlfriend's singing talent and fallout
• [46:23] – Story 4: “Sacre Bleu” K-pop Wikipedia edit
• [52:32] – Story 5: Parents invent wild lie about daughter’s marriage
• [64:13] – Story 6: Woman addicted to inventing Reddit drama; marital collapse and update

Tone & Takeaways

• True to Smosh’s comedic, candid style: banter and running jokes woven with sharp observations and genuine empathy.
• Balance between humor ("Source? I made it up!") and sensitivity (handling online bullying, family estrangement, creative vulnerability).
• Recurring theme: the ethics of lying, both “harmless” white lies and deeper, gorier fictions—with the lasting consequences they create.
• The episode wraps with the hosts poking at the illusion of truth even in their own recording, then returning with a final joke:
  • “All of these stories were fake. I wrote all of these stories.” (76:24, Arasha & Shane, in tandem)

Summary

This episode playfully and thoughtfully dissects the many facets of lying—white lies, creative embellishments, pathological whoppers—with Smosh’s signature humor and self-awareness. The roundtable explores when dishonesty is forgivable, how it erodes (or sometimes saves) relationships, and the cultural, digital, and psychological forces shaping how, why, and what we fabricate. Whether you crave “cringe,” heartfelt reflection, or the schadenfreude of Reddit drama, this episode is a thorough, side-splitting exploration of why the lies never really end.