2023 was filled with wild celebrity moments and the memes that followed suit did not disappoint.
Pedro Pascal went viral on more than one occasion this year, cementing himself as the king of memes. A scene from Pascal and Nicolas Cage’s 2022 film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, got a second wind in March when one of their scenes became a popular TikTok template.
In the clip, Cage looks unhappy as he sits shotgun while he and Pascal drive along the coastline as the song “Make Your Own Kind of Music” plays. As the tune progresses, Cage glares at Pascal, who can’t help but smile wide and gaze adoringly at his pal. One user took the scene to describe how a sleepover with their friends typically turns out.
“My friend looking at me after I agreed to stay up late with them,” read the caption over Cage’s head before transitioning to Pascal. “Me passing out at 9 p.m. like the granny I am.”
Pascal got the meme treatment — when a pop culture moment rapidly spreads online — a second time that same month after a clip of him eating a sandwich went viral again on TikTok.
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While Pascal’s meme game dominated earlier in the year, the Barbie movie took the reins in the back half. From introducing all the different Barbies and their occupations to Ken just being his best self, the internet exploded as users embraced Barbie mania.
Keep scrolling to relive and laugh at the biggest celebrity memes in 2023:
Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images ; Jaap Buitendijk Warner Bros. Entertainment
Celebrities Who Got the Meme Treatment in 2023: From Pedro Pascal to ‘Barbie’
2023 was filled with wild celebrity moments and the memes that followed suit did not disappoint.
Pedro Pascal went viral on more than one occasion this year, cementing himself as the king of memes. A scene from Pascal and Nicolas Cage’s 2022 film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, got a second wind in March when one of their scenes became a popular TikTok template.
In the clip, Cage looks unhappy as he sits shotgun while he and Pascal drive along the coastline as the song “Make Your Own Kind of Music” plays. As the tune progresses, Cage glares at Pascal, who can’t help but smile wide and gaze adoringly at his pal. One user took the scene to describe how a sleepover with their friends typically turns out.
“My friend looking at me after I agreed to stay up late with them,” read the caption over Cage’s head before transitioning to Pascal. “Me passing out at 9 p.m. like the granny I am.”
Pascal got the meme treatment — when a pop culture moment rapidly spreads online — a second time that same month after a clip of him eating a sandwich went viral again on TikTok.
While Pascal’s meme game dominated earlier in the year, the Barbie movie took the reins in the back half. From introducing all the different Barbies and their occupations to Ken just being his best self, the internet exploded as users embraced Barbie mania.
Keep scrolling to relive and laugh at the biggest celebrity memes in 2023:
Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Rihanna’s Super Bowl Dancers
In January, Rihanna slayed at the Super Bowl halftime show and announced her pregnancy as she sang her biggest hits. While the singer shined in red, she was joined on stage by hundreds of dancers who rocked puffy white jumpsuits. As they entered the field running in formation, the internet turned the moment into a meme and captioned the clip with countless quips.
“Nick Cannon’s soldiers on their way to work,” one user wrote via X (formerly Twitter) while another retorted, “Swifties showing up to drop the price of eggs 13% after Taylor asked us to handle it.”
Credit: Youtube
Angela Bassett Did the Thing
During the British Academy Film Awards, host Ariana DeBose performed a rap as her opening number. At one point, DeBose shouted out the actresses nominated for the night, but the Broadway star’s reference to Bassett is what caught the internet’s attention.
“Angela Bassett did the thing. Viola Davis, my Woman King,” DeBose said during the segment. “Blanchett Cate, you’re a genius. Jamie Lee [Curtis], you are all of us.”
Bassett went on to win three awards that night, including Entertainer of the Year. In her speech, she cheekily referenced DeBose’s rap. “I guess Angela Bassett did the thing, huh?” she teased.
After going viral, DeBose deactivated her Twitter account. Bassett shared that she reached out to DeBose to make sure she was doing alright after seeing the jokes about her performance.“I just wanted to make sure she was OK because, you know, it’s a lot of attention,” she told Variety at the NAACP Awards. “And she is A-OK.”
Credit: YouTube
‘Make Your Own Kind of Music’
Pascal and Cage’s bromance got the meme treatment when a scene from their movie went viral on TikTok. In the video, Cage shoots Pascal an annoyed glance as he drives along the coast. The camera pans to Pascal’s face, who beams with a dopey smile. TikTok users took the scene and repurposed it with their own instances where one person is upset while the other has the complete opposite reaction.
When Cage learned about his trending TikTok moment, he was confused over the concept of going viral but was glad to hear fans were enjoying the moment.
“Pedro’s a great actor,” he said in an interview at the Miami Film Festival in March. “We had a lot of fun together so I’m happy it’s making people happy.”
Credit: Youtube
Pedro Pascal’s Sandwich
Shortly after Pascal set the internet ablaze with his viral moment with Cage, the Last of Us star became a meme once again for eating a sandwich. Pascal was featured on a March episode of Snack Wars, where stars try treats from all around the world, alongside Jon Favreau. At one point during the taste test, Pascal took a bite out of a sandwich. The actor delicately held the food item as he chewed.
One user decided to re-upload the moment to TikTok and added a melancholy melody in the background as Pascal ate the sandwich. The clip turned into a template where they placed Pascal into countless scenarios from taking a break at work to experiencing a natural disaster.
Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
This ‘Barbie’ Is
Ahead of Barbie’s summer premiere, images of all the featured Barbies and Kens dropped online. In their introductions, each Barbie and Ken had their picture placed on a pink bubble and their profession was listed underneath, from “This Barbie is a lawyer” to “He’s Just Ken.”
While fans obsessed with the A-List cast, many also wanted their own featured Barbie icon. A Barbie selfie generator popped up online so people could become a Barbie, but throughout the process, memes were made. Users took different characters and other celebrities to show them off as Barbie. One meme showed off a picture of Ben Affleck looking unimpressed and captioned the picture, “This Barbie is depressed.” Another showed off Taylor Swift with the picture reading, “This Barbie is in her eras era.”
Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Kenergy
With every great Barbie meme, Ken was by her side doing his best. The first time Ken took notice online was after the official trailer dropped. Many social media users decided to compare fictional couples and real-life exes to the iconic toy duo.
“They were the true [version of Barbie and Ken,] ‘She’s everything … and he’s just Ken,'” one user wrote via X alongside a photo of Elle Woods and Warren Huntington III from Legally Blonde.
The memes didn’t stop as Ryan Gosling brought “Kenergy” to life and inspired countless spoofs online. In the film, Ken reveals his job is “just beach” and the internet poked fun at other characters who seemingly had the same occupation, including Tom Cruise in Top Gun, Larry the Lobster from Spongebob and more.
Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bro. Studios
‘Barbenheimer’
Barbie may have dominated the summer box office, but it also faced some stiff competition as well, opening against Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. While most expected a brutal duel between the drastically different movies, the internet turned into a double feature and had plenty of memes to celebrate.
One user uploaded a photo of a colorful beach house, which resembles Barbie’s dream house, and the house next door which was painted all black. “We’re about to find out that the Santa Monica houses have been a 20-year viral marketing stunt for #Barbenheimer,” read the caption.
Another user took the time to give Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer his own ‘This Barbie Is’ meme. “This ken is death, the destroyer of world,” the post said.
In December, Murphy and Margot Robbie sat down to reflect on blockbusters. Robbie revealed that producers called her asking to switch the Barbie premiere but she didn’t back down.
“I think this is a really great pairing, actually,” she said during Variety‘s “Actors on Actors” series. “It’s a perfect double billing, Oppenheimer and Barbie.”
Credit: Maureen Donaldson/Getty Images
Kevin James ‘King of Queens’ Smirk
An old photo of James from his time on the CBS sitcom took over the internet in September. The photo features James as his character, Doug Heffernan, smirking at the camera while his hands are in his pockets. According to the popular website, Know Your Meme, the image gained traction when one user posted the photo with the caption “Me after 1 double rum and diet.” Thus a new meme was born.
James, for his part, also participated in the trending moment. “Gearing up for my new Stand Up Tour… so happy I found this headshot,” he captioned the picture.
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