Released as a single in September 1982 from the group's platinum-selling debut album, Kissing to Be Clever (1982), this ballad[4][5][6][7] was the band's first major hit and first UK No.

[9] This was Culture Club's first major success, after their first two releases at the Virgin Records label, "White Boy" and "I'm Afraid of Me", charted lower in the UK at No.

"[10] Within a few days of "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" being released, David Hamilton on BBC Radio 2 played the song as his record of the week.

[10] The song rose rapidly in the UK charts after the group's first appearance on Top of the Pops, which resulted in Boy George's androgynous style of dress and sexual ambiguity making newspaper headlines.

[11] In a retrospective review, Allmusic described "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" as "a simple masterpiece, resonating with an ache that harked back to the classic torch songs of yesteryear.

The original accompanying music video for the song played in the UK and other Countries other than the USA/Canada was directed by Julien Temple, featured lead singer Boy George on trial in a courtroom (filmed in Islington Town Hall Council Chamber), with flashbacks to the Gargoyle Club, Soho in 1936 and the Dolphin Square Health Club, Pimlico in 1957.

[14] Boy George wears a shirt with the Hebrew writing "תַּרְבּוּת אֲגֻדָּה" ("Tarbut Agudda"), a literal translation of the individual words "culture" and "association" (probably a mistranslation of "club") in a grammatically incorrect order.