A Harrowing Series of TikToks About Abuse Led to the Arrest of Influencer Evan Johnson

A lot can happen in a month, and this is especially true for social media influencer Kayla Malec. In April 2025, she posted to Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube about the last 9 months of her relationship with fellow influencer Evan Johnson. Malec shared videos to TikTok that were recorded during a fight she was having with Johnson wherein he physically assaulted and emotionally abused her. She later opened up about that evening in a lengthy post to YouTube.

The video is a little over two hours long and details how the abuse escalated from punching things, to punching her. "I was scared of him at that point," she said. Support for Malec came pouring in from friends and strangers, all of whom rightfully pointed out that coming forward was an incredibly brave thing to do. Since that time, Johnson was arrested and later convicted of two charges. Here's what we know about his sentence.

Three days after Malec posted about Johnson, he was arrested and charged with domestic assault and violating a previous probation. Although Johnson was found guilty, he won't be seeing any jail time. According to People, He was handed a suspended sentence which is where a "judge sentences you to jail or prison time, but then delays imposing the sentence in order to let you serve time on probation," per the Shouse California Law Group.

If Johnson were to violate his probation again, the judge could choose to impose his original sentence. Depending on what that is, Johnson could end up behind bars. This is a win for Malec, who took to TikTok in order to express her joy over the outcome. While exiting the courthouse, Malec lip-synched along to Kanye West's song "Jail." Although that wasn't the exact outcome, we agree with Kesha who commented under the video. "I'm so proud of you," she wrote. "A win for one is a win for all of us."

A few days before Johnson's court date, Malec recorded an episode of her podcast Bangin' Out where she told her co-host, Jacob Sartorius, about what life has been like since she shared her story. Malec revealed that until she uploaded her video to YouTube, she was in denial about the fact that Johnson had abused her. So much has changed for Malec since then and she is just now starting to heal from the trauma.

The 20-year-old influencer also mentioned how depressed she's been, but has always found comfort in the positive comments and messages she received. Although she loved hearing other people's stories, it was "so overwhelming" in both "good ways and bad ways." Malec shared another TikTok moments after leaving the courthouse in which she said Johnson was arrested right in front of her. She is dancing and giggling while giving the courthouse the finger. "I was the last face he f-----g saw," she said.