Dad Starts Online Feud with Landon Barker Over His Famous The Fray Videos — and His Response Goes Viral (Exclusive)

01/13/2025 04:00 PM

Steven Schenberg spoke with PEOPLE about his ongoing "internet battle" with Landon Barker that went viral on Dec. 25 and revealed how it could come to an end

Landon Barker and a TikTok dad are dominating the FYP.

It's pretty hard to scroll through the short-form video app and not come across what appears to be an obscure internet feud between the 21-year-old punk performer and 37-year-old Steven Schenberg, known online as "HusbandTikTok."

Initiated by Schenberg on Dec. 25 with an upload comedically calling out Barker for his overuse of The Fray's hit "Look After You" as lip-sync music that easily backs 20-plus of his TikTok videos to date, the dad of three posted a clip that took a playful dig at the "Over You" singer.

"It's 2025. Landon Barker has Stassie's kid. He's still doing this trend," Schenberg, who shares his little ones with his wife Melissa, wrote over a video that featured himself cradling his newborn and has "Look After You" playing in the background.

The text was a sarcastic hypothetical that Barker would still be using the song in his TikTok videos even when he becomes a dad with a child of his own with Stassie Karanikolaou, who fans have speculated he's been dating since a video of them hanging out circulated in December.

Related: All About Landon Barker's Relationship with His Famous Dad Travis Barker

After Schenberg uploaded three more videos calling out Barker with The Fray's hit in the background in the consecutive days that followed, the apparent feud — or as Gen-Z users call it, "beef" — took a turn when Barker left a comment on his fourth TikTok clip titled, "Final Chapter," on Dec. 28.

"The difference is I'll never stop," a confident Barker wrote in his comment section. This, naturally, is what Schenberg tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview started "the friendliest internet battle" that has yet to end.

"It's been wild," he says when reflecting on his TikTok videos' unexpected trajectory.

@husbandtiktok

Rootin for ya @Landon Barker @stassiebaby @The Fray

♬ original sound - Landon Barker

The most mind-boggling part is the unlikely matchup between an ordinary Indiana-based dad from a town just outside Indianapolis and a chart-topping musician with nearly 8 million followers across social media, who is Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker's son.

"Sitting in my seat it's f---g crazy," admits Schenberg. "I've never experienced something like this candidly and it's been hilarious and incredibly fun, obviously," he says. "If someone told me that this was going to happen, I would probably laugh in their face... But here we are."

Related: Landon Barker Details How Overcoming Mental Health Struggles Inspired His Music (Exclusive)

Schenberg makes clear he is "not a full-time TikToker" when explaining how he got Barker's attention in the first place. "I started seeing Landon's videos pop up on my feed," he recalls, noting that he "got served a couple of his in a row" at the time and remembers him "posting the same thing."

Noticing that Barker was "getting a ton of engagement" on his TikToks backed by The Fray's song, Schenberg decided to "spoof" it with videos of his own because he was confident "people will know what [he was] referencing." He says, "Once he engaged, that's where it took off."

@landonbarkerr

Replying to @HusbandTikTok did ya?

♬ original sound - Landon Barker

After Barker left a comment on the content creator's fourth video, the battle over who could keep using The Fray's "Look After You" in their videos the longest commenced. "It's very much tongue-in-cheek beef. We've DM'd about this privately," he reveals.

Now, with a TikTok folder completely dedicated to videos using The Fray's song on file and an invested group of followers-turned-fans of the internet battle, Schenberg sheds light on whether he foresees an end to the "Look After You" saga.

Related: Travis Barker Celebrates Son Landon's Birthday with Sweet Instagram: 'You Blessed My World 21 Years Ago'

"I would say if we collabed in person, that would be the final chapter there. The end all, be all," he says. "That is the truce because this thing will run out of steam at some point... but maybe not."

Schenberg hinted that he and Barker are "trying to make something like that happen," but conflicts in schedules have postponed their plans to potentially unite in Los Angeles. "I think we're going to try to make it happen because we both know we're both laughing."