Real estate promoter Caleb Simpson He opens up about his difficult childhood, saying that he grew up in a cult-like environment.
“I’m one of nine children. I have eight other brothers and sisters from the same parents,” Simpson began TikTok video shared on Thursday, April 2. “I grew up in North Carolina at the end of a long dirt road in a farmhouse. I grew up very religious and homeschooled.”
Simpson explained that his father had been taught Mennonite beliefs and other religious teachings, which he incorporated and applied to his family. (Simpson’s father, who has not been identified publicly, died in 2015.)
“My siblings and I joke that we were part of a cult with no followers because my dad believed he was chosen by God,” Simpson said in his long TikTok video. “He just kept us all in this house and, because the environment was so crazy and chaotic, I didn’t want it for most of my childhood.”
He continued, “My mother had to wear a long dress and long hair, we didn’t celebrate holidays, I didn’t celebrate my first birthday until I was 18 years old.” [We had] no Christmas, nothing.”
Simpson went on to say that his father is accused of “physically and mentally abusing” the older children who still live in the family yard.
“He set an example for all of us, and we were kept on the couch, scolded and scolded every day,” said the organizer. “If one of us raised the balls to say anything, we were beaten and bullied, yelled at a lot. We all learned to get in line.”
Simpson, who is known for uploading New York City apartment tours on TikTok, also noted that she feels “lost. [his] voice” when he grew up.
@calebsimpson ♬ original sound – CALEB SIMPSON
“I did it [worked hard] to get it, you know?” she added tearfully Thursday. “When I was about 12, we moved to the city, and in the city we were exposed more. It was difficult for my parents to control in the same way. They are a little careless, but not because my older brother was expelled and my sister left because she couldn’t do it anymore.”
According to Simpson, he and his remaining siblings were unable to contact their exiled brother and sister.
“We were not allowed to ask for help [and were told] that money is bad, people are bad, they don’t accept help,” Simpson said of his parents’ rules: “So, for most of my life, I backed into a weird corner and it all felt impossible because of how it started.”
Simpson left her hometown for New York City in September 2015, around the same time her father was diagnosed with stomach cancer and given “six months to live.”
“I was here in New York, I didn’t know what to do, so my sister called me and I flew home, and then she passed away,” Simpson recalled. “I drank a bottle of whiskey that night, and I felt free. I know this is over, but I felt free because I didn’t feel like I was under someone’s thumb and I didn’t like the mind games that were played with me most of the time and my siblings’ lives were so crazy that we still have to deal with them.”
If you or someone you know is being abused by children, call or text the Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
