#HurtBae — Young couple sitting across from each other on director's chairs in a gray studio, both looking downward

#HurtBae

2017viral videoclassic

Published October 30, 2026

On Valentine's Day 2017, Condé Nast's video platform The Scene uploaded a seven-minute confrontation between Kourtney Jorge and her ex-boyfriend Leonard Long III about his repeated infidelity, and Twitter users christened Kourtney with the moniker #HurtBae overnight. Within a week the clip drew more than 221,000 retweets, launched image macros about cheating partners, and set up a second viral meeting a year later on the Iris channel in February 2018.

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Overview

#HurtBae is the Twitter nickname given to Kourtney Jorge, a young woman who sat across from her ex-boyfriend Leonard Long III in a sparse gray studio and asked him why he cheated on her during their three-year relationship1. The format of the clip resembles a daytime talk show stripped of theatrics, with soft piano in the background and no studio audience, which left viewers focused on Leonard's blunt admissions and Kourtney's quiet tears2. Two lines in particular got screenshotted and quoted all week: Kourtney asking how many other girls there were and Leonard answering "I can't say," and her explanation that she forgave him "because you're my best friend"3.

On Twitter the clip ran as a cultural Rorschach test about cheating. Users posted reaction images matched to specific timestamps, wrote threads about women staying too long in bad relationships, and quote-tweeted lines from the video as captions for their own breakup stories3. The Fader rounded up tweets that read like a mutual support group, with women identifying with the "best friend" line and men joking that they hoped everyone had a good day "except the dude from #hurtbae"3.

Beyond the sympathy posts, the clip spawned image macros that paired Kourtney's crying face with captions about any disappointment, from food orders to sports losses4. The reaction-image use eventually outlived the original news cycle, with Kourtney's face standing in as internet shorthand for being blindsided by someone you trusted1.

Origin & Background

Platform
The Scene / Twitter (viral spread)
Creator
The Scene
Date
2017

The video was published by The Scene, Condé Nast's short-form video storytelling platform, on February 14, 2017, under the title "Why Did You Cheat On Me?"4. In the almost seven-minute conversation, Kourtney Jorge and Leonard Long III, a couple who had dated for three years, walk through how they met, how the relationship fell apart, and the specific nights Leonard brought other women home5. One passage that drew particular attention has Leonard describing an occasion when he told Kourtney to leave his room because another woman was there, after which Kourtney went back to her own room and cried through the night4.

The Scene's Twitter account pushed the clip the same day, Valentine's Day, and the hashtag #HurtBae appeared on Twitter within hours as users built the moniker around Kourtney's on-camera reaction1. Internet reporters at Inverse and The Fader identified the pair the next day as @RealCreoleKourt and @leonardlongiii, and reported that strangers tried to send Kourtney money on PayPal, which she declined43.

How It Spread

Within the first week on Twitter, The Scene's post drew close to 221,900 retweets and 478,799 likes, and the YouTube upload crossed 3.4 million views in the same window1. Coverage followed quickly from The Fader, which collected representative tweets on February 16, 2017, and from Inverse, Bustle, BuzzFeed, BET, People and Cosmopolitan over the next few days34. Writers framed the clip as a conversation Twitter wanted to have about why women stay with cheaters, with The Fader noting that "many of us" recognized the exact dynamic in Kourtney's story3.

One year later, on February 22, 2018, the online video channel Iris, also under Condé Nast, published "#HurtBae 2: One Year Later, Kourtney and Leonard Meet Again"6. The sequel pulled 953,000 YouTube views in five days and, on Facebook, 4.4 million views alongside 53,000 reactions and 82,000 shares1. The second conversation was testier than the first: Leonard claimed they were never exclusive, said the pair had cooked up the first video for "exposure as entertainers," and Kourtney rejected the "damsel in distress" reading of the viral clip78. Vibe, The Root and the Daily Mail covered the reunion, with the Daily Mail quoting Jorge saying her "life did like a 180" after the first video8.

Reaction videos on YouTube extended the second wave. On February 22, 2018, the channel Dwayne N Jazz uploaded a reaction that cleared 46,000 views in five days19. Four days later, Desus and Mero aired a segment reacting to the reunion on their late-night show, and the YouTube clip of that bit later passed 58,000 views1.

Timeline

2017-02-14

The Scene publishes "Why Did You Cheat On Me?" with Kourtney Jorge and Leonard Long III, and the clip starts going viral on Twitter the same day.

2017-02-15

The Scene uploads the video to YouTube under the title referencing Kourtney's new nickname HurtBae, where it draws over 3.4 million views in a week.

2017-02-16

The Fader publishes a roundup of #HurtBae tweets and identifies Kourtney Jorge by full name.

2017-02-16

Inverse reports that strangers tried to send Kourtney money on PayPal, which she declined.

2018-02-22

Iris, also at Condé Nast, publishes "#HurtBae 2: One Year Later," pulling 953,000 YouTube views in five days.

2018-02-22

YouTuber Dwayne N Jazz posts a reaction video to the reunion that reaches 46,000 views in five days.

2018-02-23

The Daily Mail runs a story on Jorge's reunion with Long, quoting her saying her life "did like a 180" after the first video.

2018-02-26

Desus and Mero air a reaction segment to the reunion video, later uploaded to their YouTube channel.

How to Use This Meme

On Twitter in 2017 the typical #HurtBae post paired a still of Kourtney's teary face with a one-line caption applying her reaction to a trivial letdown, or quoted one of Leonard's lines ("I can't say," "If you didn't count, then it don't count") as a punchline about any evasive excuse3. Threaded commentary posts were common too, with users retelling their own cheating stories and tagging #HurtBae to signal the parallel3. A less common convention paired a screenshot of Leonard's face with captions mocking men who shift blame onto their partners for not leaving sooner3.

Frequently Asked Questions