The first part of Zayla and Jaden’s story, How Can I Break You, contained in Something Was Wrong podcast season 15 episode 3, has already spawned a healthy Reddit thread.
It became available to listen to on February 2, 2023. For Amazon Music subscribers, the second part is already available, but others will have to wait a week.
Digital creator and stylist Tiffany Reese launched Something Was Wrong in 2018. It’s an Iris Award-winning true crime docuseries about the “discovery, trauma, and recovery from shocking life events and abusive relationships.”
Something Was Wrong season 15 episode 3 invites people into the lives of ‘Zayla’ and ‘Jaden’
Titled ‘How Can I Break You,’ the episode runs to just over an hour. Part one of it, that is.
Part two of Zayla’s Something Was Wrong story comes out on February 9, 2023 – for free. For Amazon Music subscribers, it should already be available ad-free.
In it, “Zayla,” who says she is from Southern California and comes from a “blended” family, narrates the story of her relationship with a man she calls “Jaden.” Note: these are likely aliases.
During the course of her narration, Zayla goes from working as a club promoter and dancer to cohabiting with Jaden, whom she describes as being incredibly rich and, at first, generous and affectionate towards her.
THIS. A 1,000 times THIS. Tiffany Reese stated it perfectly. If we can admit violence is a cycle with many factors, then we also need to admit the way we create content around a topic is a part of that cycle. And the way we consume it is a massive piece too. #TrueCrimeCommunity
— Amy B. Chesler (@amybchesler) October 18, 2022
What does Zayla tell us about herself in season 15 of the Something Was Wrong podcast?
First, that she is from Southern California, and second, that she is from a “blended” family. She is close in age with her brothers and sisters; she doesn’t say exactly how many, but there appear to be several siblings.
When she was a senior in high school, she and her family relocated to a smaller, remoter town than the one she grew up in.
At this point, Zayla “embraced” her independence: she went to work; enjoyed being her “own person”; and left home after graduation, at the age of 17, in order to start “doing my thing.”
She worked her way into the local nightlife scene, and began making money in the clubs where she lived, relishing the independence that came with it. Jaden, meanwhile, was “quiet,” and “not from where we were from,” she says.
The first rule of the Unofficial SWW podcast subreddit is: “No openly doxxing” people. In other words: Do not share the real names of anyone in the podcast.
With this in mind, it’s reasonable to assume that Zayla and Jaden are not the actual names of the two principal characters of Something Was Wrong season 15’s episodes 3 and 4.
Listeners have turned to Reddit to search for Zayla’s real identity, but moderators of the subreddit have removed several comments. They have asked those who posted them not to share or hint at real names in posts.
What this suggests is that the comments they have removed may have contained information relating to the real identities of “Zayla” and “Jaden.”
However, some have also abandoned theories they once had regarding the two individuals’ identities, meaning they may be harder to track down than you think.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website. For the UK, you can visit the Refuge website, or Women’s Aid.
