Will Smith, Julia Fox and More

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Celebrities Who Got the Meme Treatment in 2022: From Will Smith’s Oscar Slap to Adam Levine’s DMs

The most buzzed about. Will Smith, Julia Fox, Adam Levine and more stars got the meme treatment in 2022 after making headlines for viral moments.

Fox became a TikTok sensation in February after a clip from her interview on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast went viral. After she was asked about being a source of inspiration for director Josh Safdie, Fox stated she was “Josh Safdie’s muse when he wrote Uncut Gems.” However, the actress pronounced the film’s name like “unka jahms,” which caused a frenzy on the social media platform.

The video took the internet by storm and had many people impersonating Fox’s quirky moment, including stars like Shay Mitchell and Cara Delevingne. The Italy native responded to the trend by commenting on Page Six’s social media, stating, “Omggggg I was stoned leave me alone!!!! Hahahahahah.”

Unlike Fox’s light-hearted moment, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum cemented himself in internet infamy in March. During the Oscars, Smith slapped Chris Rock in the face after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss. The King Richard actor rushed the stage and told Rock to “Keep my wife’s name out of your f–king mouth.”

Even though Smith ended up winning an Academy Award that evening, he was officially banned from attending the ceremony for the next 10 years. Viewers of the awards show and stars in attendance were left stunned. Social media flooded with images of the dramatic incident repurposed with relatable and ludicrous captions.

Following the event, Smith apologized to the stand-up comic with a lengthy statement shared via Instagram. “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally,” he wrote.

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The Maroon 5 frontman, meanwhile, went viral in September when Sumner Stroh accused the rocker of having a year-long affair with her in a viral TikTok. In the video, the social media personality showed off screenshots of alleged conversations with the “Payphone” performer. Levine, for his part, is married to Behati Prinsloo and they share two daughters, Dusty and Gia. (The South Africa native was pregnant with their third child at the time of the scandal.)

One alleged message read: “It is truly unreal how f—king hot you are. Like, it blows my mind.” The steamy DMs were replicated into memes.

The “She Will Be Loved” singer addressed the claims on his Instagram Story. While he did not deny sending the messages, he was adamant he did not have an affair.

“A lot is being said about me right now and I want to clear the air. I used poor judgment in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner. I did not have an affair, nevertheless, I crossed the line during a regrettable period in my life,” he wrote at the time.

Keep scrolling to see which stars became a meme in 2022:

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Will Smith

The Philadelphia native’s infamous physical altercation with Rock at the Oscars became one of the most talked-about moments of the year. The photo of the tense situation and the line “Keep my wife’s name out of your f–king mouth” took the internet by storm and was printed on shirts.

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Julia Fox

The Uncut Gems actress went viral after she mispronounced the film’s title and declared herself as Josh Safdie’s muse during a February interview on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. The soundbite became a popular trend on TikTok, and Fox later responded to the meme by saying she “was stoned” at the time.

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Kim Kardashian

The Kardashians star got the meme treatment in March after she offered some advice to aspiring businesswomen during an interview with Variety. “Get your f–king ass up and work,” she said at the time. “It seems like nobody wants to work these days. You have to surround yourself with people that wanna work.”

While the Skims founder’s comments received a lot of backlash, the internet also recreated it into a quotable moment.

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Adam Levine

The “Makes Me Wonder” crooner made heads turn when Stroh allegedly released his DMs to her online. The line, “It is truly unreal how f—king hot you are. Like, it blows my mind,” became a staple in the parodies of the spicy messages.

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Chris Pine

Amid all the Don’t Worry Darling drama, Pine became a meme on several occasions during the film’s premiere in September. A photo of the Wonder Woman actor spacing out during an interview went viral in particular.

That same day, Pine and costar Harry Styles made headlines for “spitgate.” In a video from the premiere, the “Watermelon Sugar” singer sat down and appeared to spit on the Star Trek alum in the process.

Pine shut down the claims with his rep telling Us Weekly in a statement, “This is a ridiculous story — a complete fabrication and the result of an odd online illusion that is clearly deceiving and allows for foolish speculation. Just to be clear, Harry Styles did not spit on Chris Pine. There is nothing but respect between these two men and any suggestion otherwise is a blatant attempt to create drama that simply does not exist.”

Styles, for his part, later poked fun at it while performing in New York City. “Wonderful to be back in New York, I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine,” he joked on stage.

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Emma D’Arcy

The House of the Dragon star became a household name after their “drink of choice” became an internet sensation in October. During an interview for HBO Max alongside costar Olivia Cooke, D’Arcy revealed their go-to beverage was a negroni sbagliato with prosecco in it. The interaction between the two created a viral soundbite that was recreated by TikTok users.  

“I keep thinking I should tell my mum that I’ve become a meme in the hope that she’ll be happy for me, but I’d have to explain what a meme is, and I’ve decided it’s too much effort,” they recalled at the time.

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Heidi Klum

The model always goes all out for her Halloween costume, but this year her terrifyingly realistic worm outfit was the inspiration for many memes. Social media users zeroed in on the photo of Klum’s blank stare and yellow eyes for their parody posts.

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Jenna Ortega

In November, the Wednesday star became an internet icon after her dance scene for the Netflix series became popular on TikTok. The choreography sparked a trend online and many users filmed themselves performing the routine.

Ortega revealed she came up with the choreography herself and that she filmed the scene while battling COVID-19.

“I’d gotten the song about a week before and I just pulled from whatever I could…it’s crazy because it was my first day with COVID so it was awful to film,” the You actress shared in an interview with NME. “Yeah, I woke up and – it’s weird, I never get sick and when I do it’s not very bad – I had the body aches.”