’The Official History of Celebs Licking Each Other's Faces

Licking inanimate objects has always been an efficient way of reminding onlookers that you know how to do oral sex or, at least, a way of making others imagine that you do. Who among us can say that she didn’t once sensually eat a popsicle at a high school function, daring others not to be attracted to her? Or made others watch her try and fail to tie a cherry stem in a knot like Audrey in Twin Peaks? But the proliferation of licking as a public, two-person act is new, a way to be explicit, intimate, and endearing in front of others without getting arrested. Angelina Jolie may have been considered wild in her day, but in public she never went beyond licking her own lips. Britney Spears was synonymous with fantasy, but when she licked SnoopDog’s open mouth, it was strictly for a music video. In more innocent times, a protruding tongue meant that an ice cream cone was nearby, or that a photographer had just shouted, “Now do a silly one!” Now licking has gone public.

Public licking can be broken into two major categories. There’s jokey, affectionate face licking, and then there’s sensual, exhibitionist face licking. There are also smaller subcategories: licking a stranger’s face in a fit of excitement, nose licking, hand licking, and the comedic, over-the-top make-out.

Take Cardi B and Offset, who actually have a song together called “Lick.” Their frequent public licking on red carpets and social media feels like it serves double duty as foreplay and personal branding. In the absence of the actual Cardi, Offset has gone so far as to lick pictures of his wife.

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