"I had a friend that people had warned me about getting close to because she was very dramatic and always played the victim. I don't like judging people based on others' opinions so we got friendly during COVID lockdowns and, for the most part, had a great time together. Towards the end of the year, her behavior became a little erratic. She had gotten really jealous, clingy, and overly dramatic. She had gotten angry with me in public a few times and once had even yelled at me and another friend at the bar. It was really embarrassing. The final straw for me was when she publicly told people that she had COVID, isolated for a few days (maybe three tops), and I ran into her at a BAR.

After this, she tried to turn things around on me and make me out to be the bad guy to mutual friends even though she was at a bar with COVID, which is what really sealed the deal that she was not worth having in my life. Before we met, I had known her through social circles because we always went to the same concerts, and I had known of her mental health state and was sympathetic to it. But after I saw her at the bar, I started to slowly back off being friends with her in the nicest way that I could. 

Eventually, we stopped hanging out as much and I was honestly relieved. I still see her around and wish her the best, but I am beyond happy to be out of that friendship. Maybe I could have handled things a little differently too but overall, I made the best decision cutting off ties."

—Anonymous, 30, Tennessee

"My sister had made visiting or calling my elderly mom a competition. I live with my mom and help her with pretty much everything because she needs it. I get no pay, she's my mother, and that's the right thing to do. I'd gotten my mother a cell phone, which she lost, unbeknownst to me. When my sister couldn't get ahold of her, instead of calling me to see if mom was okay, she went directly to our state adult protective services and lied, telling them that I was abusing my mom by not letting her have contact with anyone.

Of course this is untrue, but we still had to go through an interview with a caseworker who wouldn't reveal who'd 'reported' it, but I knew who it was. The kicker? Concerned sister never called, sent a card, anything, for months after this until Christmas. She called, leaving a voice mail saying she was moving out of state and it'd be the 'last time she'd get to see Mom.' Apparently, she was either joining a cult, going to prison or her new home state has no airports. 

My mom decided that she had nothing to say to her after all she put her through. For me, it was Christmas, my sister was moving away, there really is a Santa! I am done with her forever and don't claim her. Best decision ever."

—Anonymous, 59, Washington State

"My boyfriend and I had been dating for three years when my best friend from high school got married. Naturally, I took him as my date. During the ceremony, I imagined myself at the altar sharing vows with my boyfriend, and the thought filled me with dread. It was the exact moment I realized that I actually did not want to spend my life with him. I broke up with him in between the ceremony and the reception."

—Anonymous, 33 Florida

"I was always told by my mother that my best friend, who I'd known since we were 13, wasn’t really my best friend. Over the years, I enjoyed the times that we spent together so much that I didn’t put much weight on how rude and mean she often was. When we became much older (in our late 20’s), I introduced her to my boyfriend. At the restaurant, she began heavily flirting with him by taking food from his plate, eating from his fork, and trying to command his attention. When I brought it up to her, she tried to fight me. I realized that day I didn’t want someone like that in my life.

It took a few more years to cut her off, but one day she just made a remark while we were catching up on a call, 'Something always goes wrong when you’re around,' and I just hung up the phone and blocked her. I should have done that a long time ago.

—Anonymous, 44, Florida

"My family was always a little toxic and not very caring towards me, but it got really bad after I was diagnosed with Celiac disease. My mother started using it to cut me off from the family. She would say things like, 'You can't come on a cruise with us because there won't be anything for you to eat,' or, 'Your sister's birthday is tomorrow but don't bother coming because there won't be anything for you to eat.' The last straw: During my oldest sister's visit, the one time I was 'allowed' to share a meal with them, I asked them to wait for me to get to the house so that I could join them on their geo-caching. I arrived, and no one was there. My mother had told them not to wait.

For reference, there were always ingredients on hand for me to make something for myself at family events, like an omelet; My mom just didn't want me as part of her family.  None of my siblings had ever stood up for me either, not even when they were asked to bring me leftovers from a meal that I was told that I couldn't come to.

After I arrived at that empty house, I left. I don't have anything to do with my siblings, and the only reason that I have contact with my mother now is because it's the only way that I know if my dad is still alive."

—Anonymous, 60, Florida

"I'm an animal lover, so when one of my friends got her first dog and suddenly decided that she was no longer a 'cat person' and proceeded to dump her three indoor-only cats outside to fend for themselves and hopefully go find a new home, I knew that our friendship was done. I have no room in my life for cruel, irresponsible people."

—Anonymous, 49, California

"My father is a toxic, abusive homophobe, and I'm gay. I waited until his mom (my grandma) died, and then I completely and permanently severed contact with him. I waited because it would have really hurt my grandma to see us not on speaking terms, so I kept my relationship with my father up solely for her benefit until I no longer needed to. She knew and fully accepted that I'm gay, but the very first thing that she said when I came out was that I'll sadly never be able to tell my father."

—Anonymous, 44, Texas

"My friend lost weight and started making fat jokes about everyone. He'd tell me that the only reason people had partners was because of their money. Judging people because of their size slowly became his main sense of humor, even when I asked him to stop. The final straw was spending an entire 40-minute car ride listening to him cackle about how a childhood friend only had the girlfriend he did because he made $100k+ a year and how this friend had no other redeeming qualities his girlfriend could possibly be interested in. I drove home and realized that if that's how he talks about lifelong friends, I probably didn't need him as a friend.

He couldn't fathom someone who was overweight being in a loving relationship without some other explanation, even though I tried reasoning that maybe people had partners because they were funny or supportive (or literally any other reason that might make a person attractive).

Gradually, it occurred to me that these were probably thoughts that he had always had in his head, but when he was overweight himself, he was too ashamed to say them out loud."

—Anonymous, 28, Virginia

"My 20-year-old daughter was instantly killed in a car accident in another state, where she was attending college. One week after her death, my live-in boyfriend of 10 years said to me at breakfast, 'When you clear out T's closet, I'm putting my clothes in there.' I broke down crying and couldn't believe that he would say such an insensitive remark to me.

We hadn't even had her viewing or funeral yet because she was still in another state waiting to be released from the coroner's office to the funeral home to be prepped before being flown home. I knew right then that I didn't want him in my life anymore."

—Anonymous, 54, Maryland

"When my cousin claimed that it was 'God's will' that we get married and run off together."

—Anonymous, 25, California

"After I had breast cancer surgery, my mother-in-law asked me, as she pointed to my chest, if my husband would be happy with 'that' — as in, 'Will I still make him happy?' and, 'Is that enough for him?' Then, she continued to question me as to why I refused to get implants.

I have a severe allergy to plastics, and I could not even imagine putting them into my body. My husband has never asked me to consider implants knowing my allergies, and is one hundred percent happy with who I was before my surgery, and probably loves me even more now after my surgery. I love that man! 

I no longer have conversations with my mother-in-law and just smile and move on when at family events. She's a horrible woman, and I'm still trying to figure out how my husband is such a good man with a mother like her."

—Anonymous, 57, Wisconsin

"One year, a friend called me around 9 p.m. to wish me a happy birthday. When I got off the phone, my husband asked why she called. When I told him, he said, 'Oh yeah, it's your birthday,' and absolutely nothing else."

—Anonymous, 59, Florida

My ex cheated on me with one of my closest friends, who also happened to be the wife of one of his best friends. Obviously, I cut them both out of my life, but I also had to cut off my best friend of over 25 years because she and her husband thought nothing of hanging out and being social with my ex and his affair partner.

She often lied about how often they were socializing and hanging out, using the excuse that they 'have' to maintain a relationship with him because he is a close business contact of her husband, among other excuses. 

Other friends and family members of my ex made me aware of their continuing 'best friends forever' relationship, as they were so shocked that she would choose the two cheaters. 

What they don’t know is that she and her current husband are together as the result of their extramarital affair with one another, so I suppose they are all kindred spirits. Good riddance. She even contacted me on Christmas saying she hopes that one day our paths lead us to each other’s lives again. No, thanks."

—Anonymous, 46, Illinois

"My friend asked to borrow a suit for a professional conference. She returned it to me in a dry cleaning bag, and I noticed that it had a note from the cleaner that they could not remove a red wine stain. When I asked her about it, she blew it off and didn’t even offer to replace the suit or make any kind of amends, even though she is quite well off. She had always been a bit self-centered, but this gave me clarity that she didn’t value our friendship. I never spoke to her again."

—Anonymous, 51, Arizona

"My college roommate, who I had grown up with, took a 'memorial' quilt made of my deceased brother's shirts and had sex on it with her boyfriend while I was out. She then shoved the quilt into the dirt and garbage under her bed. Then, after I accidentally walked in on them while they were still going at it in our room and stepped back out so that they could get dressed, she (without cleaning her boyfriend's c*m off herself) cut the tags off some of my brand new clothes, put them on, and then left.

I not only found my special quilt all nasty and dirty when I came back in, but I also accidentally stepped barefoot on their sheets which had c*m all over them. When I told her later that this was the last straw and that she needed to move out, she tried to convince me that the c*m was just sweat and it was no big deal, I needed to calm down, etc. She then promptly told a mutual friend, 'Yeah she totally stepped in our c*m, but I told her that it was just sweat. She believes whatever I tell her, so it's no big deal.'"

—Anonymous, 38, Alabama

"My mother and sister convinced my ex-husband to sue me for custody for our son (who he'd only ever seen once a month for the first 10 years of his life) because I cut them off from seeing my son. They both testified against me in court and claimed that I attempted to make my son 'be gay' simply because I allowed him to paint his toenails. This happened after I was FINALLY in a happy and healthy relationship with my now current fiancée, and I was told by both of them that I was a slut for having him meet my son when we had known each other for three years. Needless to say, I am far better off without them, and my fiancée and I will be officially tying the knot in October 2022!"

—Anonymous, 34, Texas

"My mother went to a birthday party for someone who had asked a Facebook friend to murder me while I was pregnant. My mother stayed friends with her and continued to visit, never even raising her voice to her. For reference, I’ve seen my mother scream at a carhop for accidentally shorting her a dime, and my mother did not speak to my aunt for two years because my aunt didn’t invite my older sister to a single birthday party. So, yeah, I don’t speak to my mother."

—Anonymous, 35, Florida

"I had an old childhood friend who I had maintained for too long because I thought it was cool that we had known each other our whole lives. She was a very critical and judgmental person. The final straw was when I was 35 years old. She initiated a very serious conversation with me about some fashion choices that I had made in the seventh grade. I couldn’t believe that, at the age of 35, she was criticizing me for trivial 'mistakes' that I had made when I was 12. I never spoke to her again."

—Anonymous, 39, Indiana

"I found birth control pills in my wife's drawer. I had a vasectomy three years before while we were married."

—Anonymous, 72, Maine

"My best friend lost her job, and her MARRIED boyfriend broke up with her. She was mad that I didn't show up to get drunk with her every night, so she gave me the silent treatment."

—Anonymous, 57, Texas

"I woke up to him on top of me with a pillow over my head. I had a $500,000 life insurance policy. He had been acting erratically for over a year, and I had spotted all of the signs of cheating, drugs, and binge drinking and was looking for a way out. Thank God I was able to fight back that night. I represented myself in the divorce and won everything! Boom!"

—Anonymous, 56, Florida

"When he talked about the 'amazing set of tits' he saw on a 14-year-old girl."

—Anonymous, 49, Illinois

"She believed in what seemed like every conspiracy theory going, as well as the 'War on Christians.' If I tried to show her the other side, she'd look at me like I had taken the blue pill. Only she was woke. She thought that airplanes were tracking her and that chemtrails were real. We were friends from childhood, and it was sad to see some delusional illness consume the person that she once was. Once she realized that I wasn't going to buy her delusions, she began verbally attacking me. When she asked me, 'Who are you going to leave your money to when you die?' I began to worry that she might kill me.

Sorry, friend, I don't have the training to deal with your problems. It's still sad to lose a long-term friendship but it had to be done."

—Anonymous, 47, Washington

"My son allowed his now-wife to make sure that his family had nowhere to sit at their first wedding ceremony. We didn't attend their second ceremony, and my son didn't stand up for me when his wife cursed me out. He also stood with her when she testified against his sister in a child custody case and lied. I've got more but it doesn't matter because we cut them off like a bad spot on a piece of cheese. About 99% of his family has been alienated from them because of both of their actions."

—Anonymous, Georgia

"My best friend of 20+ years and maid of honor at my wedding didn’t even acknowledge the birth of my son (and still hasn’t). I went through years of infertility treatments and after trying for six years, we finally got pregnant. That’s about when things started to go downhill, but the fact that she has never said one word to me since his birth is when I was done with that relationship entirely."

—Anonymous, 36, Texas