News

#HurtBae's Story Is Absolutely Heartbreaking

by Kaitlin Kimont

If you’ve ever been cheated on, it’s hard to predict how you would realistically handle confronting the person who did the cheating. In your mind maybe it’d play out with a theatrical water-in-the-face moment. Or perhaps you’d even throw on a yellow dress, grab a baseball bat, and channel your inner Beyoncé rage. But, in real life, it doesn’t usually happen like that. It's messy and you don't always have the chance to say everything you want to. This was something the Twitterverse experienced firsthand after an emotional video of a woman calmly confronting her cheating ex-boyfriend took over the internet on Wednesday, sparking a meme. It’s heartbreaking to watch, but the woman in the video, whom the internet has dubbed “hurt bae” on social media, managed to do the the unimaginable, winning over the hearts of Twitter users everywhere in the process.

Her name is Kourtney, and if you haven't watched the clip yet, you need to. In the video from The Scene, which, as mentioned, has gone insanely viral, the former couple, Kourtney and ex-boyfriend Leonard, sit across from each other and discuss why Leonard cheated on Kourtney when they were together. Kourtney is already tearing up at the beginning of the video, which starts with them the reminiscing about how they first met and how they eventually became close friends. But they quickly start discussing their relationship's downfall — more specifically, Leonard's cheating. The calm confrontation begins with Kourtney asking her ex what he did with the other women.

"I did everything," he replies.

"Like what?" she asks again.

"I had sex with other girls," Leonard clarifies. "I did everything."

The conversation continues with Kourtney describing things she would do when they were dating because she didn't trust him, like checking the messages on his phone. She then recalls actually finding her then-boyfriend in bed with someone else.

But the real punch in the stomach is when Leonard can't tell his ex how many times he cheated on her. "I don’t know…. I wasn’t counting," he says.

As expected, the internet quickly went off on that point in particular, coming to Kourtney's defense:

While opening that painful wound was obviously difficult for Kourtney (and the entire internet), it may have given her some answers and the closure she didn't have before the conversation. And it's probably partly why this video has gone viral — not everyone has the opportunity to face their ex one more time and ask the questions they wish they had when they could.

Ultimately, Kourtney says she forgave Leonard because he was her best friend. Unfortunately for Leonard, the internet has no such connection with him and unleashed its, well, appropriate fury:

Thankfully #HurtBae doesn't seem to be hurting any longer — she confirmed on Twitter that she is now "in a happy relationship with someone who treats [her] so very right." And that's the happiest ending we could've asked for, considering how the heartbreaking depths of her now-viral story.