Cucks Are Trending in 2025, from Mountainhead to the Diddy Trial

      Cucks are currently having a moment in popular culture, appearing in HBO series like Mountainhead and The White Lotus, as well as Apple TV+’s Your Friends and Neighbors, and even in the Manhattan courtroom where Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing trial.

      The term cuck, a shortened form of cuckold, describes a man whose female partner engages in sexual relations with other men, often resulting in his humiliation. The term is derived from the cuckoo bird, known for laying its eggs in the nests of other birds. Its origins can be traced back to medieval times, with mentions of cuckolds found in the works of Chaucer and Shakespeare. Men subjected to humiliation have always served as compelling subjects for drama.

      This phenomenon resonates particularly today, as the label cuckold has been appropriated and condensed by conservatives who insult moderate or conservative men they perceive as weak by calling them “cucks.” In response, liberals (and occasionally other conservatives) have termed these softer right-wing figures “cuckservatives.” The term has also become commonly used to describe anyone viewed as a fool or a naive person.

      However, cuckolding doesn’t always carry a sense of humiliation; for some individuals, it can be sexually exciting. Research suggests that as many as 20 percent of North Americans have participated in consensual non-monogamy (CNM). This includes men who have sex with multiple women, who do not qualify as cuckolds by definition.

      Hollywood’s obsession with cucks may well reflect broader societal trends. PornHub’s 2024 Year in Review, an annual measure of people's hidden desires, showed a slight increase in the search for terms like “cuckold wife” (up 8%) and “wife swap” (up 6%).

      As modern pop culture illustrates, cuckoldry is complex: Sexologist Jill McDevitt has suggested it can represent either masochism or sadism. Some cuckolds find excitement in “the arousal associated with giving up control and being humiliated,” she explained to Men’s Health last year. Others may derive pleasure from witnessing their partner with someone else, indulging in a sadistic fantasy of “taking revenge on his partner by pimping her out.”

      This complexity is particularly apparent in the Diddy trial, where the music mogul is accused of hiring male escorts to engage in sexual activities with his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, during what they referred to as “freakoffs” (or FOs). Prosecutors claim the freakoffs constituted sex trafficking, while Diddy’s defense argues, using text messages exchanged between Ventura and Combs, that the encounters were consensual and enjoyable for her.

      Jurors must determine whether Diddy’s orchestrating of his partner’s participation in something historically linked to humiliation was indeed a demonstration of power—or an abuse of it.

      Hollywood challenges viewers to consider similar dilemmas regarding a variety of fictional characters. The key difference between today’s cucks and those of the past is that contemporary cucks are frequently aware of their partner’s sexual encounters with others, and may even support them.

      Hollywood’s Interest in Cucks

      In Wes Anderson’s 2021 film, The Royal Tenenbaums, Bill Murray’s character, Raleigh St. Clair, embodies a tragic figure as he comes to understand the depth of his wife Margot’s infidelities: “You’ve made a cuckold of me,” he laments.

      In contrast, today’s Hollywood cuckolds are often fully aware of their partners' indiscretions, if not actively endorsing them.

      Regardless of the motivations, cucks and cuckoldry are prevalent in the current cultural landscape, especially in high-quality television: In Season 3 of The White Lotus, the sinister Greg Hunt (Jon Gries), who has recently acquired wealth through the murder of his wife, has a fetish for watching his new partner with younger men. In HBO’s Mountainhead, the likable character Jeff (Ramy Youssef) is a billionaire who dislikes the idea of his partner attending a sex party in Mexico but feels powerless to impose his boundaries. He openly shares his concerns with the other influential men in his wealthy social circle, hoping she won’t sleep with anyone else.

      Jesse Armstrong, writer-director of Mountainhead, previously delved into cuckoldry in his series Succession, where Tom Wambsgans (Matthew MacFadyen) fears his wife Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) might leave him if he protests her promiscuity.

      Possibly the most notable cuckold on television now is Andrew “Coop” Cooper (Jon Hamm), the lead in Apple TV+’s popular series Your Friends and Neighbors. Coop appears to embody an alpha male stereotype: he possesses a large home, a high-powered finance job, and a Maserati. In some respects, he mirrors the strong, traditional alpha character Hamm portrayed in Mad Men.

      However, Coop becomes a cuckold against his will