Being in the public eye means celebrities frequently become the butt of a joke or subject of a viral meme. While some may be offended, others lean into the inside jokes as a way to connect with fans.
Featured VideoIn a post on r/popculturechat, a user asks, “What’s your favorite joke or meme based on a celebrity that they ended up embracing?”
Several references popular celebrity look-alike memes, in which the two twinning celebrities nod to each other in interviews and on album covers.
Others praise celebrities like Taylor Swift for embracing inside jokes with their fan bases.
AdvertisementThese are the nine most notable times celebrities have participated in their own meme, according to Reddit.
1. Daniel Radcliffe and Elijah Wood look-alikes
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and Lord of the Rings lead Elijah Wood frequently get mistaken for each other. In an interview, Radcliffe jokes that 20-year-old Wood was being mistaken for him when he was 13 years old.
“Definitely Elijah Wood and Daniel Radcliffe getting mistaken for the other all the time.” —u/ChiliAndGold
Advertisement2. Tony Hawk: Look-alike or not?
Tony Hawk jokes that many fans have told him he “looks like Tony Hawk,” not realizing they’re actually talking to the skateboarding prodigy.
“All of Tony Hawk’s tweets where people tell him he’s a Tony Hawk lookalike.” —u/Normal_End_8911
“He posts random clips on Reddit in the old skaters subreddit and never mentions that it’s him. It’s so funny.”—u/Nermcore
Advertisement3. Three Spidermans
All three Spiderman actors—Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire—recreate the iconic Spiderman-pointing-at-himself meme in an epic reunion.
“All 3 Spider-Man actors embracing the Spider-Men pointing at each other meme.” —u/PinkCadillacs
Advertisement“I’m convinced the original meme was the inspiration for the movie in the first place.” —u/Momasaur
4. “No, It’s Becky”
A bizarre Tumblr post once used a picture of Taylor Swift to allege that their friend “Becky” went to a party and “snorted marijuana,” leading to her mental decline. Another poster responded, “Pretty sure that’s Taylor Swift.” The original poster then responded, “No its Becky.”
Later, Swift sported a shirt with the words, “No its Becky.”
Advertisement“I made a ‘Becky’ friendship bracelet for my stop during the eras tour, not sure if it went to anyone eventually though, lol.” —u/——–rook
“I made my companion wear a no it’s Becky shirt to the eras tour.” —u/Luna_Soma
5. Mariah Carey defrosting
Singer Mariah Carey’s iconic Christmas album sparked the joke that she’s “defrosting” as the holiday approaches. Fans noticed that she embraced the “defrosting” meme in a 2024 advertisement.
Advertisement“Mariah embracing the defrosting meme is definitely up there. she spun it into a fabulous pr campaign.” —u/blankspacejrr
“I’m surprised no one has said Mariah and the whole defrosting/It’s Timeeeeeee. Didn’t that start as a meme?” —u/kubricks_cube
6. Ed Sheeran and Rupert Grint
Two famous redheads, singer Ed Sheeran and actor Rupert Grint, embraced being mistaken for one another. Recently, Sheeran featured Grint on the cover of his album, “Ed Sheeran The Complete Collection.”
Advertisement“Yeah. Ed Sheeran is leaning into it while promoting his upcoming album, he changed his spotify banner to the Rupert Grint picture as well.” —u/HereOnCompanyTime
“The first Ed Sheeran song I heard was when I saw the video for Lego House and for longer than I’d like to about, I just thought Rupert Grint had branched out into music.” —u/Substantial_Ad_4435
7. George Russel’s iconic pose
F1 racer George Russel went viral after hitting an epic pose in an introduction video before a race. Now, he leans into the meme.
Advertisement“Doing the pose as a race winning celebration fucking killed me!” —u/Nermcore
“Like you’ve got all these other drivers acting tough and looking dead serious (or in Sainz’s case flaunting his locks) and then you have Russell embracing his own meme.” —u/mooonbearr
“The way he brought the pose back for the 2025 intro is honestly iconic.” —u/mooonbearr
Advertisement8. Prince and Dave Chapelle
After comedian Dave Chapelle dressed up as Prince in a skit, the singer used a picture of Chapelle in costume on the cover for his single, “Breakfast Can Wait.”
“Prince using a photo of Dave Chapelle from one of his skits about Prince. The skit is hilarious.” —u/drunken_phoenix
Advertisement“Well played, Prince. Well played.” —u/HereOnCompanyTime
9. “Thanks, Obama.”
Republican voters once sarcastically used, “Thanks, Obama,” to express their displeasure with the president’s policies. Obama then embraced the meme in several public appearances.
“One of his former speechwriters has a memoir called ‘Thanks, Obama.’ I loved it.” —u/KetosisCat
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