The TikTok Lesbian Breakup Apocalypse Is Upon Us
If you ever watched the original version of The L Word, then you’re likely familiar with the Chart, which catalogues the hookups and breakups of all the main characters. A real-life version of the Chart is currently unfolding on TikTok, now that the lesbian breakup apocalypse is upon us. Whether it’s something in the water or simply the side effects of Virgo season, lesbian influencer couples are breaking up en masse, leaving many pairs anxiously looking over their shoulders waiting for the axe to fall.
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According to NBC News culture reporter Morgan Sung, who recently appeared on Rolling Stone‘s internet news and culture podcast Don’t Let This Flop to walk us through what she deems the “TikTok lesbian breakup apocalypse,” it arguably all started with Cari Fletcher, the musical artist who goes by Fletcher. Fletcher recently broke up with Shannon Beveridge, a YouTuber (coincidentally, Beveridge also made headlines with her own breakup video from her ex Cammie Scott in 2016).
Beveridge recently started dating a woman named Becky Missal, prompting Fletcher to write the song “Becky’s So Hot,” which recently went viral on TikTok. Fletcher has said that she wrote the song after accidentally liking one of Missal’s photos on Instagram, in which Missal was wearing one of Beveridge’s vintage T-shirts, leading to the lyric “Becky’s so hot in your vintage T-shirt” in the chorus. Many on TikTok have responded with glee over the mess, but some have also questioned the ethics of her explicitly naming her ex-partner’s new girlfriend without her explicit consent. (For her part, Beveridge has denied knowing beforehand about the song’s release or that Fletcher had asked her or Missal for their permission, though both Beveridge and Missal seem to have made peace with it, as they are now selling Becky-themed merch.)
Another prominent same-sex couple to fall victim to the curse is Sedona Prince and Rylee LeGlue, who prior to their August breakup were largely best known for their height difference. (Sedona, a college basketball player, is 6’7″, while Rylee is 4’9″.) After releasing their tearful breakup video, the two were subject to an intense flurry of rumors after Rylee posted in a comment that Sedona had cheated on her twice, a claim that Sedona has in part denied, alleging that she “got it on with someone at a party” while she and Rylee were on a break.
By far the most prominent couple to fall victim to the curse, however, is JoJo Siwa and Kylie Prew, who have been dating on and off for months. After first breaking up in November 2021, the two appeared to reunite in a cuddly Instagram post in Disney World in May 2022. Their reunion appeared to have been short-lived, however, as Prew revealed in a recent Instagram Live that the two had been broken up for a few months.
“I don’t like drama and it makes me really, really anxious and so I don’t want to talk about it for a while, but someone asked me just now if I was single [and] I am,” Prew said in the video. “I’ve been single for almost two months and it’s OK. It’s not deep, I promise. Everything’s fine. Not everything has to be messy and gross because it’s not, and I just want to clear the air.”
Despite Prew’s insistence that not everything had to be messy, however, people on TikTok immediately made it so. They zeroed in on one of Siwa’s recent mukbang videos (a term for clips in which people eat a lot of food) with Avery Cyrus, another popular TikToker, with many speculating that a blue stain on Siwa’s cheek was the result of Cyrus having eaten a blue ice cream donut sandwich in the video. Siwa has refuted the rumors, calling Cyrus a “really, really good friend,” but that has done little to quell fans’ feverish speculation on the app — or memes about there being a “curse” on social media-famous lesbian couples in general. “Remixing my attitude to avoid the lesbian breakup curse that’s been going around,” says one such video.
On this week’s episode of Don’t Let This Flop, cohosts Brittany Spanos and Ej Dickson discuss the TikTok lesbian breakup apocalypse as well as the cancellation of Shakespeare, Demi Lovato’s “29” trend, and the demise of Florence Pugh and Zach Braff’s (confusing) relationship.
Don’t Let This Flop is released Wednesdays on all audio streaming platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher and more.
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