I tried The Tea app and saw its dating dysfunction firsthand

New York Post

4 days ago

On Tuesday, I published a column about a toxic app called The Tea that allows women to anonymously defame their dates without recourse.
One must apply and prove their identity to get onto the females-only app. Despite being promised my application would be processed in mere 'hours,' I spent weeks waiting. Then suddenly, mere hours after dropping my piece, I was accepted.
Naturally, I had to double back and give you a taste of the tea behind the curtain. What I found: hundreds of Jerry Springer-worthy plots unfolding in real time.
9 Many posts on The Tea accuse men of having sexually transmitted diseases.
'Have you dated my HUSBAND,' one New York City post reads. 'Seriously. We are NOT in an OPEN relationship. Someone went to the lengths of finding my email to tell me they went on a date with my husband and sent me [a dating app] screenshot amongst 20+ others.'
Another accused a local 26-year-old — whose photo, full name, and Instagram account are all attached — of being a porn addict who had a 'whole girlfriend.'
'I also discovered a secret Instagram where he follows tons of OnlyFans models and weird fetish accounts,' the post alleges. 'He visits sex parlor massage shops to hook up with women and even follows one of the parlors on Twitter.'
9 One woman asked other users whether they have dated her husband.
9 Many users take swipes at the sexual performance of past lovers.
Because The Post hasn't been able to verify any of these accusations and to protect people's privacy we're not including any names or faces in this article.
One local apparent 'Instagram influencer', 31, is accused of being 'verbally and emotionally abusive' and, weirdly, being,'controlling of shared food while living together.'
The user also took a swipe at him sexually: '[He] has a small and dirty [penis], and doesn't last longer than 30 seconds in bed (I wish I was joking.)'
One 39-year-old New York City man is accused of 'always having 5+ girls on rotation, many believe they are in exclusive relationships with him. This behavior has been going on for YEARS… He is a professional at this game. Has lots of 'client dinners' which is just code for he's on a date.'
Another 31-year-old is accused of having genital herpes and being 'desperate and disgusting.'
One user warned others of a 28-year-old New Yorker, who she dated long distance for nearly a year. 'He went to prison for eight months last year for illegally hoarding ghost guns,' she wrote. 'All you have to do to find out more about this is google [his name and] ghost guns and you'll have plenty to read about.'
Some other posts are just straight up petty. One user, looking for info on a guy she apparently was planning a date with, was merely told: 'He talks too much.'
9 One New Yorker was accused of hoarding ghost guns in a post.
9 A Tea user posted an image of another woman, accusing her of trying to steal her boyfriend.
9 The female-only Tea app has caused a stir with its mna-targeting content.
REUTERS
'D—k type small but chat like he got some big ole s—t,' another user wrote about a 21-year-old New York man.
Someone posted an image of a 22-year-old New York City woman, writing, 'This is not a man I know but I think it's important. She continued to come on to my boyfriend despite knowing everything and me confronting her.'
The app also allows women to ask one another for advice, from whether it's possible for a porn addict to change his ways to whether it's 'okay for a guy you've been talking to for 3 years to ghost you without any communication.'
A more shocking question: 'I (20) have been talking w this guy (33) on tinder/snapchat and he's been talking abt all the things he wants to do to me sex wise … is it wrong if I ask for money?? and if so how much? we already hooked up once but I wanna feel like im getting something in return.'
Answers — like, 'He sounds insatiable but go ahead' and, 'Get your money!' — were unanimously supportive.
The app also offers a reverse phone number search, which we tested but it proved to be largely useless.
9 One user claimed that their former flame was really on dates with other women when at 'client dinners.'
9 A local man was accused of being a porn addict and having secret Instagram accounts.
Their local sex offender map failed to actually load on my phone, but the app will help direct you towards background checks, criminal record searches, and court record searches if you have adequate information on your date.
Scroll through The Tea, and you'll find thousands of men's faces with often damaging comments attached to them. According to media lawyer Robert Roth, Section 230 protects The Tea from being sued, and anonymous users are very difficult to hold accountable for defamation and false claims..
'What this means is that users of the app can write nasty things about other users but the ones written about can only sue the writers if they can actually figure out who they are,' Roth told The Post.
'Since most use pseudonyms, that's next to impossible.'
So, the women of The Tea can continue spilling it with abandon for the foreseeable future.