Prank video fans on TikTok mourned the death of the very concept of love this week as celebrated content creators Moon and Tiko announced their official split.
On Oct. 17, 2023, the couple posted a 43-second video to the social media platform. There, they explained to their 15 million-subscriber fan base that their marriage and partnership had ended. The news was a devastating blow to longtime fans of the couple, but lingering questions muddied the waters in the days and even months following their supposed split.
Did Moon and Tiko break up?
A somber October 2023 post gave Moon the opportunity to inform followers that it was the final video the couple would be sharing as a team. Tiko expressed his hope that fans “don’t hate us for this or feel horrible about it too much,” before going on to state that the pair had been taken “different ways” by life.
Neither party went into detail regarding the events surrounding their separation, which left followers with no concrete explanation. The duo was married for two years, and posting prominently on TikTok for three, and their partnership served as a beacon of joy for many viewers.
As with any high-profile breakup, Tiko and Moon’s came with plenty of internet speculation. Followers took to X to voice support, criticism, and concern. Some pointed to what they saw as a mean streak on the part of Tiko as a potential cause for domestic unrest. Others just strung together some crying face emojis. Both reactions were valid, as there’s no wrong way to mourn.
Was the divorce a prank?
Having built a TikTok empire consisting of millions of fans and nearly half a billion likes based solely around pranks, Moon and Tiko found themselves in a difficult position post-breakup: Many of their followers immediately assumed that the bad news was, itself, a prank. It’s not an uncommon problem for professional practical jokers – just look at the inimitable Andy Kaufman.
Those assumptions of a prank gradually dropped off the more time passed, however, and fans realized that Moon and Tiko were completely absent from one another’s pages. All signs point to a real, unfortunate parting of ways between the two treasured TikTokers, and fans have plenty of theories as to what brought their relationship to an end.
Why did Moon and Tiko break up?
Moon and Tiko didn’t provide a concrete culprit behind their breakup, but fans have a range of theories. Many point to Tiko’s references to his mental health and the burdens of being a unit as the primary culprits behind the split, and Tiko himself seemingly confirmed this in a solo video referencing the breakup.
In a late 2023 upload, Tiko explained that he simply “couldn’t continue to support [Moon’s] family” and cited that as the primary culprit behind the breakup. A bulk of fans questioned this narrative, as it seems Moon pulls in plenty of revenue from her successful TikTok page, but it is the reason cited by Tiko. The creator also explained that rumors regarding his mental health were overblown, despite experiencing plenty of post-divorce anxiety.
It seems Moon and Tiko’s lives really did simply take them in separate directions, but both creators remain on TikTok, where fans can catch up on their lives and enjoy those classic pranks whenever they’d like.