If you’ve been on the internet today, it’s likely you’ve seen an abundance of posts about a mysterious man called West Elm Caleb.

West Elm Caleb – whose real name is Caleb Hunter – is a 25-year-old man who went viral on TikTok earlier this week after several women from New York City realised they’d all dated him around the same time. According to Hunter’s Hinge profile, he works as a furniture designer at West Elm – hence the nickname.

It’s not unusual for TikTok users to use the app as a space to vent or gush about their personal lives, and this is how the West Elm Caleb story originated. Initially, there were a few of these kinds of videos, lamenting the dating scene in NYC and, in particular, complaining about a tall man called Caleb who works at West Elm.

One of the first videos about Hunter came from TikTok user @meemshou. She posted a TikTok joking about her first date with a very tall guy called Caleb, which prompted a deluge of comments asking if she was talking about “West Elm Caleb”. When she realised that the commenters had been duped by a serial dater, @meemshou posted another video – which has since been viewed over 1.2 million times – saying she felt like it was her “duty” to “warn my girls about this Caleb from West Elm.”

Then other users began connecting the dots: @kellsbellsbaby claimed she’d been dating Caleb for six weeks before finding out on TikTok that he was seeing “every other woman in NYC”. @_katepear spoke of how the same man “love-bombed” her and sent her unsolicited dick pics. The details vary, but most of these women are sharing similar stories about Hunter: they met on Hinge; went on a few dates; and were swiftly ghosted.

The story blew up, and at present the hashtag #WestElmCaleb has a staggering 26.3 million views on TikTok – and it hasn’t escaped Hunter’s notice. @kellsbellsbaby posted a video on Wednesday sharing screenshots of a conversation she had with Caleb, where he claimed to be “shocked and traumatised” by his private dating life going public in the most extreme way imaginable.

“I guess I’m cancelled now,” he wrote.