The Brief: The "I ain't never seen two pretty best friends" trend on TikTok memefied a video by @jayrscottyy about the relative attractiveness of best friends.

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On October 8th, TikToker @jayrscottyy, who is known to give relationship advice on the app, posted a video where he said “I ain’t never seen two pretty best friends. It’s always one of em gotta be ugly.” In the weeks following, this video became widely memefied on the app with people recreating the video and splicing the phrase into other videos in unexpected ways.

@jayrscottyy

why y’all never choose another equal to be y’all best friend?? I hate when the ugly one call the pretty 1 “twin” if ur best friend bad as u tag her rn

♬ original sound – Jordan Scott

Many “two pretty best friends” TikTok videos show TikTokers using costumes and editing to mimic @jayrscottyy’s striking appearance, emphasizing his gold-colored eyes and goatee.

@bobcalixte

It’s always one of em gotta be ughly #fyp #foryou #foryoupage

♬ original sound – 🦋

Another popular meme based on this trend adds the phrase and/or @jayrscottyy’s audio to videos in unexpected ways. These TikToks often use a bait and switch trick similar to Rick Rolling. A video may start with someone sharing about a new discovery or hidden message before they reveal that it’s really just “I ain’t never seen two pretty best friends. It’s always one of em gotta be ugly.”

Other related TikTok videos show two best friends realizing that according to this aphorism, they can’t both be pretty. At the time of writing, there are over 38,000 TikTok videos that use @jayrscottyy’s sound and videos associated with the hashtag #iainteverseentwoprettybestfriends have been viewed over 26 million times.

@ernatheartist

🙁 #WellDone #collegelife #iainteverseentwoprettybestfriends #foryoupage #fyp #foryou

♬ MGMT forgot to add the sound – Jarvis

@josh1morris

Thank you grandpa❤️

♬ original sound – Josh

The Buffalo Bills’ official TikTok account got in on the fun:

@buffalobills

Wait until the end. 😭

♬ original sound – Buffalo Bills

A message from Bunny The Dog:

@thejordiejourney

by popular demand: bunny has QUESTIONS…who has answers? @what_about_bunny #whataboutbunny #bunnythedog #bunnythedogisoverparty

♬ original sound – thejordiejourney

@spring._._

Omg jshfhahsv i cant escape this this is so funny #twoprettybessfrens #2prettybestfriends #iaintneverseentwoprettybestfriends #fyp #foryou #lmfaowtf

♬ original sound – 🦋

@chrisholmes98

“ItS vEnTi I kNoW” I still don’t work here. #starbucks #iainteverseentwoprettybestfriends

♬ original sound – Chris Holmes

@ang.ca

I’m in shock. 🤭 #WeWinTogether #halloween #twoprettybessfrens #candy #november2020 #happyhalloween #welldone #halloweenlook #PSA #Viral #meleaving

♬ original sound – 🦋

@tiktokforbiden

It’s always one of em gotta be ug1y 🍊#tiktokforbiden

♬ original sound – 🦋

@spicymayomami

I can’t believe that was her defense tho… #WellDone #WeWinTogether #ShowUpShowOff #fyp #foryouu #fypppppppppppppp #foryou

♬ original sound – 🦋

This meme has since spread beyond just TikTok. Variations of the meme and the copypasta phrase “I ain’t never seen two pretty best friends” can be found on Twitter, Reddit, and beyond.