The line comes from Noli, a character in the Roblox horror game Forsaken, where players share voicelines as short soundboard clips for edits and memes. Fans clipped the I'm telling dad moment because its childish threat stands out against the game's tense chases, and it quickly spread through Forsaken gameplay videos, TikTok edits, and Discord soundboards. It remains popular because it works as a universal snitching joke, even for viewers who have never played Forsaken.