On Wednesday, September 25th, in the Seward High School commons, an alleged verbal agreement was made between two seniors: Hunter Hollingsworth and John Moriarty. The  agreement was supposedly made after Moriarty mentioned his haircut, which would occur that Thursday. 

Hollingsworth asked Moriarty, “How many likes for you to shave your head?” Moriarty responded, “1,000 likes.” To this, Hollingsworth said the binding words, “Ok, bet.” A picture was immediately taken of Moriarty and posted on the instagram account, @hunter3nd with the caption “if this gets 1,000 likes before 11 tomorrow, he shaves his head. Please post this on your story.”

The post spread through social media like wildfire. The students of Seward High reposted it on their stories, which started a snowball effect. Students and graduates from across the state joined the movement. Even reaching the farthest corners of the globe, such as Mexico, Italy, and Missouri. As of today, October 1st, 2019, the post has received 1,222 likes and sixty-three comments.

 An anonymous individual has stepped forward, claiming some of the likes may be fraudulent. The individual stated they “bought 100 likes for $2.99” for arbitrary reasons. Despite this information, it is still reasonable to assume the post would have reached 1,000 likes before the deadline.

Moriarty does not view this as an official bet claiming, “We never shook hands.” 

Students however, feel otherwise. Connor Spanos, one of Moriarty’s childhood friends, believes the agreement is “absolutely” valid,  “concerning the fact he was being arrogant about it yesterday saying that he had no worries when it was only at 100 likes.” 

Trey Ingalls states, “He said bet,” making it completely valid.

Due to the fact Moriarty does not consider this a formal agreement, he stated to SHS reporters he will not be shaving his head. Since making this claim, Moriarty has been attacked by a multitude of students who believe he has gone against his word. Spanos adds, “I’ve never known John to not go against his word, well, until now.”

Ingalls believes he “certainly” is letting down Seward High School, the 1,000+ people who liked the post, and the entire state of Alaska.