A Photo Of Jack Harlow Alone On Valentine’s Day Is Going Viral, And The Discourse Is Very Relatable
Jack Harlow’s most recent dinner date has the internet talking.
On Feb. 14, aka Valentine’s Day — the day when chocolate, candy, and flower sales skyrocket — Jack surprised everyone when he was spotted a very popular New York restaurant.
In a photo shared by Pop Crave, the “Lovin’ On Me” rapper was seen dining at the iconic French bistro in SoHo, Balthazar.
If you remember, it’s the same restaurant that James Corden was banned from for being what the owner described as the “most abusive customer” and “extremely nasty.” Fortunately, the owner later claimed that James apologized and that everything had been forgiven.
Celebrities hit up hot spots like Balthazar all the time, but this particular sighting went viral because Jack was riding solo… on Valentine’s Day. (See the photo here.)
Honestly, the “What’s Poppin” rapper looked at peace sitting there solo, and I can’t help but think he’s a creative genius who’s indirectly promoting his latest single (pun intended), “Set You Free,” which just dropped on Feb. 12.
In “Set You Free,” he literally starts the verse off, “I want to be alone / more than ever / Less free time / more endeavors / Less romance, get more cheddar.”
On Feb. 13, Jack also posted on his X account about a time he was majorly curbed by date and received “2 hugs” and no kiss — so the atmosphere for a solo date was set several days prior.
Whatever the reason Jack was 
all by myself at Balthazar may be, the viral image generated interesting discourse online, with some people making obvious jokes and plenty of others supporting his choice and sharing their sentiments.
Some people joked that he wasn’t alone and was waiting for them to arrive from the bathroom or traffic.
And a lot of people supported Jack’s “quality me time” and brought up great points about normalizing doing activities on your own:
“Nothing wrong with enjoying your own company sometimes, it’s the best choice,” one person wrote.
“Shoutout to Jack Harlow for not being afraid to have a meal by yourself. Especially on Valentine’s Day. As someone who does stuff solo all of the time, it’s pretty nice.”
Another person wrote, “This is a boss move. Shows how much he loves himself.”
“Going out to a restaurant by yourself is genuinely so good. People need to stop judging and go do it. Edit to add: if you haven’t done it, go to a movie by yourself as well. It’s ok to do things alone that people typically associate with groups.”
“I used to feel really self conscious about it. Now my main joy in life is going to yum cha by myself and eating a whole lot of dumplings and drinking tea and reading a book.”
— u/azaerl
“Looks like Jack Harlow is enjoying some quality ‘me time’ on Valentine’s Day in NYC!” this person wrote.
Another person suggested we “Leave bro alone 
he’s just like us.”
And finally, this person wrote, “Normalize eating out alone. Cuz this shouldn’t even be news or anything serious.”
Do you think there are benefits to “enjoying your own company” and doing activities alone? Let’s talk about it in the comments.
I’ll go first: I went to a three-day music festival two years ago by myself, and I used to be a person who couldn’t go grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s alone. It was the most nerve-wracking and liberating experience, and it felt great that I was finally experiencing life based on my schedule and not others. It also led to a fun brief romance at a Kim Petras set.
