Benjamin Franklin decided way back in the 1700s or whatever that life came with two universal certainties: death and taxes. But if you asked Tori Robinson and Leah O’Malley, they’d probably add one more to the list: boys will lie. Tori and Leah are the best friends and co-founders behind the wildly popular clothing brand Boys Lie, which the pair launched in 2019 after going through simultaneous shitty heartbreak. During the pandemic, they lived with each other for over three years and eventually “had a business and two dogs together. It was crazy,” Tori told me on a sunny L.A. morning by the water when we chatted in their Barbie Dreamhouse of a showroom (if Barbie dumped Ken for a single girl summer at Art Basel).
The Boys Lie fandom (which started with curious followers who grew into loyal fans and now includes just about every It girl celeb and influencer) wears their heart on their sleeve, literally, thanks to the brand’s recognizable logo: a blindfolded cupid. Its infectious relatability has spun Tori and Leah’s vision into something much bigger than a fashion label. Boys Lie is a movement and one that revolves around much more than dunking on dudes. On their podcast, launched in 2023, Leah and Tori moonlight as pop culture pros, influencer whisperers, and, yes, the firm but fair managers of a virtual heartbreak hotel, where they advise their listeners on how to secure early checkouts with celebrity guests.
These two reformed lover girls were pros at dating in the wild, so I spoke with the Boys Lie CEOs about why boys lie, how to detect them, and the type of lies girls tell, too.
The Most Extreme Case Of Ghosting
Even with the world’s top scientists on the case, we still don’t fully know why boys, or people in general, choose to ghost. Even though Leah and Tori have experienced ghosting themselves, their wildest ghosting story came from their pod. A listener was dating a dude who wrote a fake obituary, got his family to co-sign his plan, and was never to be seen or heard from again. Until the listener’s “heart sank” when she bumped into “this person” whom she had “grieved for so long,” Tori recalled.
The truth, according to the listener, was that “he just ran away to Mexico and had a child,” Leah explained. But why did he lie? Tori had a solid theory: “The man was too afraid to break up with her. He faked his own death.”
How To Stop Ignoring Red Flags
Even though Tori and Leah are no longer in the dating game (Tori got married in 2024, and Leah is in a long-term relationship), that doesn’t mean they haven’t encountered plenty of red flags in their day.
Leah’s #1 red flag, which is “very common and it happens to a lot of people,” is all about communication. She was once “in a situationship with this guy over one summer,” and though the communication started out “hot and heavy” (“he was texting me all the time”), when it started to “dwindle,” she wasn’t sure if he was still interested since he hadn’t straight up ghosted. Eventually, Leah found out, “the whole time he was starting to date somebody else.”
When a guy is inconsistent, it’s easy to hold onto hope that “he still likes me.” Her advice for anyone dating is to remember, no matter how many breadcrumbs they drop, “if somebody really does like you, they will make the effort, and they will put in the time to talk to you.”
Tori’s most memorable red flag is “very similar” to her bestie’s. She was “in a relationship where a guy took care of me in every which way of the word,” except consistency. The guy wouldn’t reach out for a few days, but then “that weekend, he’d be like, here’s your plane ticket. Meet me here.” On one particular trip to L.A., this man told her he had to run a quick errand, and then, Tori remembers, “he drops me off, and I never heard from him ever again.”
Though she couldn’t ever prove it, Tori suspected that “was just a part-time girly, swirly” while the dude had a full-time GF back home. Both women learned over time that men who are any of the three A’s (athletes, artists, or agents) are prone to have girls in every single city. “I’ve seen it firsthand myself with some of my friends,” Leah says. So, while sliding into the DMs of your fave frequent flier could pay off, just keep in mind it could come with a calculated risk, too.
Another red flag? The dude was “watching [Tori’s] stories so consistently on Instagram,” even after he blew her off. They’re not sure why, but Leah guesses it’s because “he probably still wanted to feel like he could come back in at any time and see what you’re up to.” Letting go of people who want superficial access to your life is part of Tori and Leah’s secret sauce to healing from heartbreak — and growing a brand much bigger than just boys.
What’s Next For Boys Lie?
As Boys Lie has become more popular, its founders are “growing and evolving, too,” partially thanks to being “married and in a stable relationship,” Leah says. Even though they’re not knee-deep in boy drama anymore, Tori and Leah are still deeply connected to their company because what “Boys Lie stands for, first and foremost, is growing and being empowered and feeling like you’re confident,” Leah tells me.
Though they’re adamant that they’re not “therapists or psychiatrists or doctors,” giving advice to their audience has expanded their goals. Those larger conversations about life have inspired Boys Lies’ most recent collections, like their collaboration with Liv Walker and Kendall Washington of Love Island (who, for the record, are still just friends). As Boys Lie has become more popular, its Cupid’s logo has come to represent more than the mantra “Love is blind, but I can see just fine.”
“It’s conquering the heartbreak,” Tori says, whether that heartbreak is from a boy, a girl, a friend breakup, or losing a loved one, and from there, “learning how to heal and learning how to forgive because that’s the biggest gift you could give yourself.”
Girls Lie, Too
As much as boys are the perfect candidates for the lie detector hot seat, let’s admit it: girls lie, too. When I asked Tori and Leah about some of the lies girls tell themselves in relationships, one classic came to mind for Tori: “You can fix them, they’ll change.” But “honestly,” Tori expanded, “you can’t force someone to change. They have to do it on their own. So I took in a lot of strays, honestly, thinking I could fix them. My biggest mistake.”
Tori’s key to figuring out the dead ends sooner rather than later? “If you have an intuitive feeling and you deeply, deeply, deeply feel it in your stomach, you’re right.” Oh, and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.
But all lies aren’t created equally. After a bad breakup, “you’re going to be fine” is a Girl Lie that Leah believes, “you have to continuously speak positively to yourself, to allow yourself to not go back to those toxic traits.” And hopefully, it’s a lie that will become true, even if “you’re going to be fine in a month from now or in a year from now, you’re going to be so happy.”
And, naturally, the single ladies aren’t spared from relationship propaganda, even when they aren’t in one. “Oh, it’s so easy to find someone if you just put yourself out there,” Tori recalls as the big falsehood single girls are sold, which causes women to succumb to “a toxic hope and pressure just to get the job done,” even if it’s not their person. Leah agrees there’s “a mindset if you’re not with your person at a certain age, you’re behind everybody else,” when the truth is “you could always find that person, and you’re never really behind,,”, especially with today’s technology.
When you do find your person, don’t let the romcoms fool you. Just like being single, being in a relationship brings its own set of pet peeves, so I asked the ladies what RelationshipTok isn’t being totally honest about. For Tori, the need for rot time can’t be underestimated. “I love my husband to pieces, but I love my alone time. I love solitude,” she told me. After a long day, she has to “get on the couch and just be like, ‘I just need to doom scroll for five minutes silently.'”
Leah has a lolz-worthy observation (trademark pending) called “boy eyes.” It’s when your man asks you for something, and you know that thing is exactly where it should be, but for some reason, they “can’t” find it. “I’m like, ‘Did you even look?’ And he didn’t even look. And I’m just like, ‘What’s wrong with you? Use your eyes!'”
