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MTVs Ghosted: Love Gone Missing Draws Backlash for Condoning Stalker Behavior

MTV's new "Catfish"-like series, "Ghosted: Love Gone Missing," quietly premiered last night and viewers are slamming the show for encouraging stalking.

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Helmed by co-hosts Travis Mills and former "Bachelorette" Rachel Lindsay, MTV aired a sneak peek of the premiere episode of the show immediately following last night's finale of "Catfish."  Where "Catfish" hunts down would-be lovers who have only spoken to each other online or over the phone, "Ghosted" aims to reunite real-life couples or friends who have abruptly lost touch with one another.

The act of "ghosting," of course, is a tactic used to end a relationship – usually romantic – by cutting off all communication without explanation. This often includes blocking phone calls, texts and social media accounts. The premise of "Ghosted" assumes that this sudden disconnect is the result of the "ghost" having a really good reason for no longer communicating with "the haunted," as the show likes to refer to the person they seek to help.

Surely, nothing could go wrong with hunting down a person who has put in great effort to not be found, right? Twitter had some thoughts (as Twitter typically does), and many people are concerned that the show promotes a complete disregard for boundaries, at best, or just straight-up endorses stalking, at worst.

Could you imagine someone leaving behind a toxic relationship/friendship, healing, and then an MTV camera crew shows up in your face with that person. That would be super traumatizing for a lot of people

— Juicebox (@CentristsHateMe) August 21, 2019

MTV's new show #Ghosted definitely promotes stalking. A person does not HAVE to stay in touch with people whom aren't their "real friends" if they don't want to.

— avilove (@laShaeaviana) August 22, 2019

Honestly if I ghosted someone and then get a call from MTV saying so and so is looking for me that’ll just enforce that I made the right decision bc that is some real serious stalking psycho shit

— FrizzyHairedIzzy (@SouthsideClau) August 22, 2019

Much of the uproar began before the episode even aired, so some Twitter users who actually viewed the show came to its defense.

Some of y’all are playing real fast and loose with the term stalker. Stalking is a real thing and seems like this guy is just hurt and emotionally fragile but not a dangerous/threatening stalker #Ghosted

— EJ (@Ebbie924) August 22, 2019

Ghosting can often seem like the safest option for someone hoping to break free from a toxic relationship where they fear that the other person will not respond well to being rejected. Or, sometimes, it’s just the easiest way of letting someone know you did not enjoy your first date. The latter probably doesn’t make for the most entertaining television drama, however, so “Ghosted” is expected to traipse into some sticky situations.

Each episode will end with the "ghost" and the “haunted" reuniting under harsh stage lights to confront each other about their loss of communication. It's a little reminiscent of a police interrogation, sure, but everyone involved in the show has to sign over consent to have their story shown on television. So, the show itself is not exactly a documentary of stalking as some Twitter users suggest.

However, it could encourage viewers to do some stalker-like detective work of their own, and that could be problematic. MTV has not yet issued a statement about how they intend to prevent the promotion of this behavior, but they do have a few weeks before the show returns to air.

The premiere episode of "Ghosted: Love Gone Missing" will re-air when the full season officially begins on September 10th at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. 

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Ashley Keegan, Khareem Sudlow