From big events like the Super Bowl and the Oscars to big stars from Nicole Kidman to Jack Harlow, there were plenty of moments worthy of the meme treatment this year. Here, we look back at some of our faves.
Back on Feb. 13 at the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Eminem, 50 Cent treated the crowd to his 2003 hit “In Da Club” and recreated the video’s opening by hanging upside down. Cue the kick-off for many a meme:
When I saw 50 cent Upside Down 🤩🤯 #HalfTimeShow pic.twitter.com/rCAXBM7LBF
— TheVibe_Himself (@TheVibeHimself) February 14, 2022
50 CENT AT THE HALFTIME SHOW AND HE DID THE UPSIDE DOWN IN DA CLUB INTRO 😭😭😭😭 5TH GRADE ME IS THRIVING RIGHT NOW #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/OWJA5zpoe3
— Smitty Werbenmanjensen (@ChrEEstosK) February 14, 2022
50 Cent after hanging upside down for 5 seconds #HalfTimeShow pic.twitter.com/ILzzOT3RUu
— EMILY🇺🇸🇲🇦 (@CrewsmatMorocco) February 14, 2022
Lot of people asking why 50 Cent was upside down during the Super Bowl half-time show. Thought I’d explain: His breakout track was In Da Club it was a great song that made him popular. And since that day he’s been looking for someone to do the upside down Spider-Man kiss with. pic.twitter.com/wz1XqWj6Ve
— Tamoor Hussain (@tamoorh) February 15, 2022
The hip-hop mogul also got in on the game with a few memes of his own:
In a now-deleted Instagram post from November, Vin Diesel called for WNBA athlete Brittney Griner’s release from Russian prison, writing “I need Brittney Griner home before Christmas,” alongside a photo of himself at a basketball match. Following Griner’s release in a prisoner exchange for arms dealer on Dec. 8, social media users jokingly thanked the actor for his part.
Thank you, Vin Diesel. The most important thing in life will always be family. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/RUZES5MwDT
— battle tested ulxma (@ulxma) December 8, 2022
Vin Diesel really did that 🤝🫡 pic.twitter.com/4Y3rH6I6Tk
— League Alerts (@LeagueAlerts) December 8, 2022
Some users believed the actor singlehandedly infiltrated the Russian prison by himself.
How Vin Diesel got Brittney Griner out of Russia pic.twitter.com/O9Ydgq468h
— William Kim (@TheKimulation) December 8, 2022
Vladimir Putin seeing Vin Diesel driving a camaro in the sky to come get Britney Griner: pic.twitter.com/Lzy1daiEKc
— The BLERD Bomber. (@KINGDALLASCASH) December 8, 2022
Putin watching Vin Diesel land in Russia to save Brittney Griner pic.twitter.com/q8hfq8KVH1
— 🕷 (@djmooreszn) December 8, 2022
A meta meme was born when Spider-Man stars Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire suited up to recreate the Spider-Man pointing meme.
Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man proves 60’s Spider-Man will never run out of meme material. https://t.co/DX3qq3q5Vb pic.twitter.com/RNxqCePuNn
— Know Your Meme (@knowyourmeme) July 12, 2017
Tom, Andrew, and Tobey doing the iconic Spider-Man meme. My life is complete now pic.twitter.com/EbM1fkPmpH
— Aniq (@aniqrahman) February 23, 2022
Spider-Man was hot meme fodder beyond the triple-point pose, too:
The Acade-meme Awards
The Oscars is a perennial feast of memes, and this year was no different. While reliable meme star Nicole Kidman pulled her weight, there was obviously a new source of inspiration for meme-makers at the 2022 ceremony.
This reaction shot was initially thought to be in response to The Slap, but it was later revealed that it was shot before the show got underway. It makes you wonder what her slap reaction looked like.
It isn’t the #Oscars until we have a truly insane Nicole Kidman reaction image. pic.twitter.com/KSk9wTs8oK
— Devan Coggan (@devancoggan) March 28, 2022
Best meme of the #Oscars and the winner is Nicole Kidman 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/nDHrXLH2QV
— Lizy in the sky with diamonds (@LizyDiamond) March 28, 2022
Nicole Kidman and #Oscars = a match made in meme heaven pic.twitter.com/f3QgAeewlZ
— Nicol (@nikowl) March 28, 2022
Cameras caught a catty chat between Caitlyn Jenner and Lady Gaga outside the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 30th annual Academy Awards Viewing Party.
Jenner: “Are you spending time around Malibu anymore?”
Gaga: “Yes.”
Jenner: “I haven’t seen you at the Starbucks in a while.”
Gaga: “I’ve switched baristas.”
Gaga abruptly exits stage right.
“I’ve switched baristas” is the the funniest thing I have ever heard. pic.twitter.com/4teVYUK14R
— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) March 28, 2022
“I’ve switched baristas.” pic.twitter.com/4KVRrJy2pe
— Nina Parker (@theninaparker) March 28, 2022
“I’ve switched Baristas” will now be my excuse for everything. pic.twitter.com/FQSLtxX4lI
— Rhyder 🏳️🌈🖤 (@rhyderlight) March 28, 2022
“I’ve switched baristas” is literally the most polite way of saying “If I ever see you again it’ll be too soon”. https://t.co/mKx0wQ3MIY
— Wes Pyron (@oh_itsjustWES) March 28, 2022
Prestige Memes Courtesy of the Royals
Let’s start off with the smallest and cutest of them all.
The four-year-old appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony with his fam, but he was not a fan of the sound of the Royal Air Force fly-over.
Prince Louis on Buckingham Palace balcony is a mood pic.twitter.com/DGkNKSd0Rj
— Elly Blake (@eb_journo) June 2, 2022
prince louis is over the platinum jubilee
i can relate pic.twitter.com/cuLeFw0eIV— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) June 2, 2022
This made my morning. https://t.co/LMpeXVxfBw
— Ashton Sosnowski (@ashton_r_smith) June 2, 2022
Elsewhere, royal watchers were identifying with Prince Harry’s priorities.
And folks were feeling King Charles III’s anxiety level as he prepared to ascend to the throne:
And now, let’s move on from royalty to The King.
This sweaty shot of “Elvis” star Austin Butler as the icon in the ’70s was too hot not to meme:
My wife: It’s freezing in here! Can we turn down the AC?
Me: pic.twitter.com/cdtOu7YDdf— Chris Evangelista (@cevangelista413) July 1, 2022
“I ain’t gonna lie to ya Sean this here hot sauce is killin’ me!” https://t.co/NK6cALRQ2Q pic.twitter.com/0w3WcKHgnJ
— damo (@MFDAMO) July 1, 2022
“let’s get a table outside!”
— pj 🇺🇦 (@peterjmarshall) July 2, 2022
Austin Butler as Elvis Presley in 1977, (behind the scenes of #ElvisMovie. ) pic.twitter.com/lQDzw0hQeE
— Austin Butler News (@AButlerNews) June 30, 2022
After the nearly-finished, $90-million “Batgirl” movie was suddenly cancelled, fans used the meme medium and the hashtag #HBOMaxJustCanceled to theorize what else might be on the chopping block:
#HBOMaxJustCanceled this upcoming blockbuster starring The Rock pic.twitter.com/EZmfs9b9uC
— TVTrance (@network_trance) August 12, 2022
#HBOMaxJustCanceled The Pete & Kim One Year Anniversary Special pic.twitter.com/v1hG2udQII
— BatmanAndRobert (@MacDoug1) August 11, 2022
#HBOMaxJustCanceled A Song of Frappuccinos & Expressos: A Game of Thrones Story pic.twitter.com/PPxzviNvt3
— Wesley L. (@realwesleywess) August 12, 2022
#HBOMaxJustCanceled not only Batgirl, but also Catman! pic.twitter.com/psBY6tWkja
— Clint Kritzer (@ClintK64) August 11, 2022
#HBOMaxJustCanceled the Stephen King / Peanuts crossover. pic.twitter.com/dv9GnhRn8J
— Penguin Pete 🐧| writer elite 📰🎙️🎥🎨 (@Penguin_Pete) August 12, 2022
Martha Stewart, 81, maintains that Davidson is like a son to her, but that didn’t stop creators from speculating about her relationship with the BDE originator.
We should’ve seen this coming. pic.twitter.com/BXzTUl3yQp
— Gennefer Gross (@Gennefer) August 6, 2022
The star received a muted reception for his performance at ‘College GameDay’, and meme-makers had a field day.
Nobody at Ohio state cares about jack harlow lmaoo I’m dead pic.twitter.com/qEUE2OKBfn
— John (@iam_johnw) September 3, 2022
Whole College Gameday crowd watching Jack Harlow up there like .. pic.twitter.com/YiH70NjBtx
— Kevn Striker (@Mr_BX2BK) September 3, 2022
Jack Harlow, performing in front of the college gameday crowd. pic.twitter.com/VOmO1VRi2e
— Dennis Nguyen (@pastorpapi23) September 3, 2022
His chat with the ESPN panel didn’t do him any favours:
Let’s just say @jackharlow‘s strategy for GameDay picks is a little unconventional … we love it tho 😂😭 pic.twitter.com/uIde23p46a
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 3, 2022
Meanwhile, on the basketball court, NBA refs had questions about — and for — the star:
Scott Foster and Ed Malloy trying to figure out who Jack Harlow is 😂 pic.twitter.com/6C2ux5g381
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 1, 2022
Harlow offered a mythically-minded response:
Clearly these mfs have never seen Narnia https://t.co/JeC3hx7KAr
— Jack Harlow (@jackharlow) May 1, 2022
i will never forget jack harlow in narnia pic.twitter.com/RB1pkukYMc
— Harlow¹⁶ ⌛ (@LaNattiqueen) May 1, 2022
A negroni sbagliato with prosecco in it = stunning! This interview clip discussing drink choices was seized on by fans:
@hbomaxI’ll take one of each. #houseofthedragon♬ a negroni sbagliato w prosecco l hbo max – hbomax
if the words “a Negroni sbagliato with Prosecco in it” mean anything to you you may be entitled to compensation
— Madison Malone Kircher (@4evrmalone) October 8, 2022
what happened to my browser (and my brain) when I tried to google negroni sbagliato pic.twitter.com/uFsM7VcwNP
— meloffbird (@meloffbird) October 15, 2022
Y’all trying a negroni sbagliato with prosecco pic.twitter.com/hNUTb2aN3V
— Southern Homo (@SouthernHomo) October 13, 2022
Bartenders when they’re asked to make a negroni sbagliato with Prosecco in it pic.twitter.com/I3WXBGUC4c
— Enya De Wolf (@_enyadewolf) October 14, 2022
oh nothing, just thinking about emma’s negroni sbagliato with prosecco in it pic.twitter.com/712yu3DgkX
— mina | renew warrior nun ⚔️ (@axolotl_grl) October 10, 2022
On the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Julia Fox was asked if she was then-boyfriend Kanye “Ye” West’s muse.
She replied, “Yeah. A little. I mean, I was Josh Safdie’s muse when he wrote ‘Uncut Gems’, you know?” But her elaborate pronunciation of “Uncut Gems” was catnip to TikTok users, who garnered millions of views with their imitations of “Unka Jhaaaams.”
Julia Fox saying uncut gems pic.twitter.com/zjZ776RmI9
— Joe Gunn (@joegunn) February 17, 2022
Why does Julia Fox say “Uncut Gems” like that my god pic.twitter.com/JS5qltqGeg
— Klay Thompson’s Burner (@iKlayThompson) February 16, 2022
i’m just walking around saying Uncut Jaayms, having a nice morning pic.twitter.com/v8S9YjLOME
— haley o’shaughnessy (@HaleyOSomething) February 14, 2022
Over on Reddit, the most popular celebrity memes of the year featured the beloved Dwayne Johnson:
It’s bad enough to be caught up in an Instagram cheating scandal. It’s even worse when the world makes fun of your (lack of) DM game.
“She will be loved” – Adam Levine scrolling through his Instagram explore page
— Hanna Dickinson (@hansdickie) September 20, 2022
Literally no one:
Adam Levine in divorce court while they read all his dms: pic.twitter.com/KCMhBj6Jwj
— Ville Kid (@TheKodakChris) September 21, 2022
adam levine sexting pic.twitter.com/rw5ZMD5dHW
— simone! (@parasocialyte) September 21, 2022
Adam Levine when someone sends him a nude pic.twitter.com/UGtoPkICJb
— Cas (@shortcasserole) September 21, 2022
when you get a DM from Adam Levine pic.twitter.com/JOsluhhgFk
— Ryan Perry (@rynprry) September 21, 2022
Here’s hoping that 2023 brings an equally mind-blowing meme harvest. That’s our one Christmas wish. It’s the toast we’ll be making on New Year’s Eve. It’s our biggest hope for the holidays. Feel free to meme it.