I am always learning new things! With the help of AI, I am sharing this post.

As any reader of my site knows, I’ve lived through an obsessive, online smear campaign for about 9 years. It started in an apartment building in the summer of 2016, when a tenant who didn’t want to accept responsibility for their own behaviour decided I would be their scapegoat. What could have been a simple landlord-tenant issue turned into a full-blown character assassination in 2017: websites in my name, accusations about my work integrity, and ugly labels thrown at me to justify their actions.

For a long time, it felt like they were winning. My professional reputation was attacked, my personal life dragged into it, and, eventually, the stress pushed me to leave the province altogether just to find some peace. But over time, something unexpected happened. The very campaign that was meant to destroy me started revealing far more about them than it ever did about me.

Online smear campaigns are designed to destroy you, but over time, they usually end up exposing the toxic person instead. The louder and longer they go, the more they reveal their own patterns of manipulation, insecurity, and obsession, and people start to see it.

Their “Perfect Image” Starts to Crack

Toxic people use smear campaigns to control how others see them and their target. They try to cast themselves as the innocent victim while painting you as “crazy,” abusive, or dangerous. Because their self-esteem is built on external validation, any perceived threat to their image can trigger an over-the-top response.

The result is dramatic, excessive attacks that make them look less like a calm truth-teller and more like someone who is fragile, defensive, and desperate to protect a shaky ego. They refuse to even write about their actions that led to their eviction! You can see this in this content: Toxic Tenant Bullies Original “Statement of Facts” Issued June 2018

Inconsistencies Pile Up

At first, some people may believe the lies. That’s one of the most painful parts of the process for me. But over time, patterns emerge. I started seeing these patterns myself! The toxic tenants’ stories often:

• Shift and contradict themselves
• Rely heavily on exaggeration and half-truths
• Recast other tenants, tribunal members, building staff, and landlords as “abusive” or “toxic,” and in “cahoots” with each other.

Eventually, others notice that the narcissist tells the same “I’m the victim, they’re the monster” story about multiple people. I saw it for myself when they created other smear campaigns against other individuals and companies on the internet!  When every relationship ends with the same script, people start to realize the common denominator is the person doing all the smearing.

The Internet Keeps Receipts

One of the toxic person’s biggest blind spots is the permanence of the internet. Their smear campaign leaves a trail:

• Posts and comments
• Emails and DMs
• Websites, blogs, and “exposé” pages
• Repeated accusations

Targets are now widely advised to screenshot and save everything, as I did. That means the toxic person’s own words become evidence. I have tons of content! Later, this trail can be used to show harassment, defamation, or stalking, and it can be brought to lawyers, platforms, or even law enforcement if things escalate.

I went to the Toronto Police Service (TPS) many times in Ontario when the websites started showing up, but I was told then it was a Civil matter. Civil Court in Ontario is a very expensive process, I checked! I went to hosting companies, and while some suspended the sites due to policies they had, others did not.

In July 2021, I went to my local Police when I got an email from these toxic people, and lorriereddy.com showed up, which proved they were stalking me, and after review by the Niagara Regional Police Cyber Crime unit, they determined there wasn’t enough for criminal charges. They did speak to them, though, but the sites remained.

It was during this process of working with my local Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) and Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS), over that summer of 2021, that I learned that the content on those sites told them more about the writer than it did about me. I also learned that no one was clicking on their websites.

It was obvious to the Police Officers reading the content that this writer didn’t know me personally; they were just pretending. It was obvious to them that these toxic people didn’t know my motivations and what I was thinking.

This realization helped me release the shame I felt! I accept now that no matter what these people say or share online, it is obvious they don’t know me as well as they try to claim. They are not mind-readers as they led me to believe!

The very thing the toxic person uses to “prove” you’re the problem often becomes a documented record of their abuse of you instead!

Their Relationships Erode Over Time

Smear campaigns are exhausting to maintain. Toxic people need a constant audience and “flying monkeys” to keep the narrative alive. But:

• Constant gossip and drama burn people out
• Friends and family get tired of hearing the same grievances on a loop
• Some begin to notice how obsessed the narcissist is with you

As people step back to protect their own mental health, the toxic person can lose support. Some former allies even switch sides when they see you staying calmer, more consistent, and grounded in facts while the toxic person spirals in public.

Loss of Control Triggers Collapse

Toxic people smear because they are terrified of losing control of the narrative and being exposed. When:

• People stop believing them
• Their manipulation tactics no longer work
• Consequences show up (social pushback, legal action, platform bans)

It can trigger what’s sometimes called a “narcissistic collapse” — intense shame, rage, and emotional destabilization when their self-image is threatened. They may become even more erratic, which only further exposes them. I saw this too!

How the Campaign Exposes Their Vulnerabilities

In the long run, a smear campaign doesn’t just attack your character; it reveals theirs. It shows:

• How dependent they are on control and image
• How terrified they are of accountability
• How far are they willing to go to avoid responsibility
• How unstable and obsessive they can become when challenged

The more they push their narrative, the more they highlight the very traits they’re trying to hide. The tactic they thought would “prove” you’re the problem becomes a spotlight on their own disorder.

Taking My Power Back

For a long time, I thought the existence of those websites and accusations meant they had “won.” I had left my job, left the apartment I lived in there, and eventually left the province altogether, while they stayed online, still ranting. On the surface, it looked like they had chased me away.

What I see now is very different. Their smear campaigns are a monument to their obsessions, not anyone’s worth. It shows their refusal to accept responsibility, their fear of being held accountable, and their need to control how others see them. I rebuilt my life in a new place, with new surroundings and a new focus, while they remained stuck in the same storyline, still trying to convince the world that I and others are the problem.

I can’t erase what they did, and I can’t control who still chooses to believe them. What I can control is how I live now: in truth, in transparency, and in my own words. By telling my story, I take my narrative back from people who tried to weaponize it. Their smear campaign may live online, but so do I — and my reality, my healing, and my voice will always matter more than their lies.