A clip of a woman’s boyfriend walking her friend home at night has sparked controversy.
The video, posted to TikTok by Sal and Steve (@salandestevao), has gone viral after Sal shared the gesture online. Since it was posted, the clip has received over 647,500 views and more than 55,000 likes.
“POV [point of view]: Your Doberman boyfriend walks your friend home because it’s 2 a.m.,” Sal captioned the video, which shows the two of them walking.
A woman walks outside at night. A video has gone viral on TikTok after a female poster shared the effort her boyfriend made to make sure her friend got home safely.
EyeEm Mobile GmbH/Getty Images
People in the comments quickly erupted in debate, with some saying that Sal’s boyfriend was being unfaithful to her with her friend. Others, though, pointed to the act as a gesture of good will—and a natural inclination toward keeping female friends safe.
“Well, I’m glad I don’t have any friends for my boyfriend to walk home,” @oogly.boogly40 wrote. “I wouldn’t allow it.”
Another commenter, @samixsweethearttt, posted that she was going to “hold” Sal’s hand while telling her about her suspicions from the video.
However, many other people counteracted the worst intentions with stories of their own, and beliefs in trust and community safekeeping.
“These comments make me sad,” @apple.user8984 added. “Is it younger people that are all so worried, I would insist my husband walked my friends home if it’s late. He would offer, too.”
“Some of these comments make me sad,” @jomc66 commented. “This gentleman was raised right; as a mom, this would me make me so proud and I hope my daughter meets a guy like this one day.”
In the end, users’ personal stories provided the strongest evidence for the good intentions of Sal’s “Doberman” boyfriend: “Boyfriend of my BFF [best friends forever] was taking care of me while I was crying, being drunk, being sleepy or hungry. We never had any attraction to each other,” @user2684994340059 posted. “He was a friend and she could trust us being alone together.”
“My good friend’s husband drives me home whenever it’s late (she has a daughter at home and hates driving late),” @hello123567_2 commented. “It’s the most innocent thing and I feel respected by them both.”
“This comment section is wonders, I had a guy friend, and he walked me home as well in the middle of the night, sometimes with his girlfriend, sometimes without. We were all good friends, and she was my bestie,” @_andy_v added. “Not everything means being unfaithful. and I believe there are differences and more signs in behavior if it’s the ‘bad’ thing.”
In the comments, Sal addressed some of the controversy by saying that her boyfriend was back with her only 10 minutes later, and didn’t leave her alone for long.
Newsweek reached out to @salandestevao for comment via TikTok.
