How do you measure a year? We say in memes. Between spy balloons being shot down and internet-breaking celebrity relationships, 2023 has been a pretty good year for viral moments — which resulted in very good memes.
But before we say au revoir to the year for good, as is tradition, we must first take a stroll through the best memes of 2023. 25 of them to be exact.
So let’s get to it. Below, the best memes of the year, in no particular order.
The Best Memes of 2023
Barbenheimer
Safe to say the Barbie x Oppenheimer double feature, better known as “Barbenheimer,” was the biggest meme of 2023. Both highly anticipated films were released on July 21, and many moviegoers made a day out of it, seeing Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb epic and Greta Gerwig’s ode to the iconic Mattel doll back-to-back.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
The second biggest meme of the year? Global pop star Taylor Swift and Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce’s relationship. Swift was pictured cheering on her rumored beau at a Chiefs game in September and the internet promptly lost its shit, spawning memes like “and seemingly ranch.” Three months later, the relationship seems to still be going strong, with every photo or video captured of the two together still going insanely viral.
he had a friendship bracelet and a dream https://t.co/IhbfD0lUpZ
— Taylor Swift in 4k (@4k_taylorr) September 24, 2023
Travis Kelce begging his teammates to let him score one in front of Taylor Swift pic.twitter.com/oFQFUtyNMX
— Kevin Wilemski (@kevinwilemski) September 24, 2023
all the girls putting on the chiefs/bears game pic.twitter.com/CGKZNwClMc
— katelyn (@noitskatelyn) September 24, 2023
Succession
Succession ended its four-season run this year and, in turn, gave us so many meme-worthy moments. One of the most noteworthy was Tom Wambsgans’s scathing takedown of Cousin Greg’s date’s Burberry tote bag in which he describes the sizeable accessory as “ludicrously capacious.”
Our personal favorite meme from Succession’s final season, though, was Kendall Roy desperately, pathetically screaming and spitting “But I’m the eldest boy!” to his siblings after a failed attempt at becoming the company’s CEO.
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George Santos
While we’ve been engrossed in the former U.S. representative’s string of kooky lies (including how his mother survived 9/11??) since 2022, this year George Santos’s fibs and inappropriate use of campaign funds finally caught up to him, and he was expelled from Congress on December 1. But you can now find him on Cameo, where he is charging $500 for a personalized video message.
Angela Bassett did the thing
Actress Ariana DeBose’s original rap celebrating female nominees at the BAFTA Awards did not receive the intended reaction from viewers. “Cringeworthy” is probably the easiest term to describe the odd musical number, and many got a kick out of one line in particular: “Angela Bassett did the thing.”
Henry Kissinger dying
Henry Kissinger’s death has been a long-standing Twitter joke since at least 2021 when the account Is Henry Kissinger Dead Yet? cropped up and began giving live updates on whether the controversial U.S. diplomat and former secretary of state had bit the dust or not. Kissinger finally kicked the bucket on November 29, and very similar to when the Queen died, the website produced some of its best work yet.
YES
— Is Henry Kissinger Dead Yet? (@DidKissingerD1e) November 30, 2023
All of twitter clocking in to night shift at the post factory when Henry Kissinger dies pic.twitter.com/88R1XSKEu1
— ghost (@ghost_prole) November 30, 2023
Boston police officer catapulting off playground slide
The image of a Boston police officer unceremoniously clanging down a metal playground slide face down will forever be ingrained in our minds. One of the best memes of 2023, easy.
The Titan submersible implosion
For nearly a week, it seemed the entire country was captivated by the Titan, a submersible operated by American tourism company OceanGate, which had lost signal in the North Atlantic Ocean while on its way down to view the Titanic wreckage. It took four days to discover that the submersible had imploded, killing the five people on board, but in the interim, those of us on land became experts in deep-sea diving.
Trump’s mugshot
After being indicted on 13 felony charges (his fourth indictment of the year for a total of 91 felony counts), Donald Trump surrendered in Atlanta, Georgia this summer where this Grinch-like mugshot of the former president was taken, and then endlessly meme’d.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski accident trial
On the same day a grand jury in New York voted to indict Donald Trump, Gwyneth Paltrow won her court case over a 2016 ski collision in Utah. The trial is now being turned into a musical.
Kevin James
A stock photo of Kevin James sheepishly smiling on the set of his TV sitcom The King of Queens randomly took over the internet in September.
Travis Kelce talking to Taylor Swift after the game asking her if she saw his touchdown pic.twitter.com/Znh5LalZrU
— A Nobody’s Burner Account (@clevelandidiot) September 24, 2023
Spotify Wrapped
One of the last great mass cultural events, Spotify Wrapped — which uses streaming data to gather your top artists, albums and songs of the year — added a few new features to its annual end-of-year wrap-up, including where you would live based on your music taste. Many X users joked that if your “Sound Town” was Berkeley, Burlington, or Cambridge, you might be gay.
imagine explaining this to me literally 18 hours ago https://t.co/FZ8LoZs5gZ
— archie panjabi updates brasil (@anxiousdeluxe) November 29, 2023
Travis Kelce’s old tweets
Typically when a famous person’s old tweets go viral it’s a cause for concern. But when X users uncovered Travis Kelce’s posts from nearly a decade ago, they just confirmed what many of us had suspected: he’s just a bit of a lunkhead — one who loves naps, Chipotle and manifesting under the moon. Pretty relatable if you ask us.
I get it. https://t.co/0b9FUJAiFB
— Ashley Reese (@offbeatorbit) November 15, 2023
every Travis Kelce tweet is like dam! dinner tastes awsome when your hurngy! but it makes u so full
— carol of the bens (@limitlessjest) November 16, 2023
The Panera “Lemonade That Kills You“
It’s not funny that an unsuspecting fountain drink allegedly killed two people this year, but the two newsworthy incidents did raise one befuddling but imperative question: Why does a lemonade from Panera Bread have 390 mg of caffeine in it????
they're running background checks now pic.twitter.com/anNKrwIrOk
— Jeremy Herbert (@DDayFilms) November 12, 2023
My Roman Empire
Women asking their male partners how often they think about the Roman Empire led to a newfound internet term. “My Roman Empire” now refers to just about any historical event or cultural phenomenon you think about way too much.
Kylie Jenner x Timothee Chalamet
The first video evidence of Jenner and Chalamet canoodling at a Beyoncé concert — confirming their long-rumored relationship — made internet users feel slightly unsettled by the unlikely pair.
Cole Sprouse
Disney Channel and Riverdale star Cole Sprouse appeared on the popular podcast Call Her Daddy earlier this year and…was acting pretty cringe. By smoking cigarettes indoors and spilling the deets about his former relationship with costar Lili Reinhart, to many, Sprouse exuded a sort of pompous douchebaggery.
Me ordering an almond croissant pic.twitter.com/xjtFtZJcS0
— Lukas Battle (@lukasbattle) March 8, 2023
The Chinese spy balloon
In early February, a surveillance balloon from China was spotted hovering over the United States, prompting a debate from politicians and internet users over whether the Pentagon should shoot it down. It was eventually popped a few days later. RIP!
Nicolas Cage looking at Pedro Pascal
A clip of Pedro Pascal beaming at a skeptical Nicolas Cage in the film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was used mainly on TikTok to represent scenarios in which one party is elated by a situation and the other is less than thrilled.
Bill Hader dancing
An old SNL clip of comedian Bill Hader from 2014 went insanely viral (again!) on TikTok. The clip features Hader doing a wiggly little dance that many young people on the internet connected with.
Orca attacks
When killer whales attack! Yes, these aquatic mammoths (which, historically, have not been a significant threat to humans) have been working together to sink boats in the Strait of Gibraltar. Like cow-tipping, for whales. Multiple orca-boat incidents have been reported since 2020, but 2023 saw a strange uptick in attacks — with four boats being sunk just this year…
Vote for Speaker of the House
One of the best memes of 2023 came just four days into the new year. It took Kevin McCarthy 15 rounds of votes to be elected Speaker of the House just days into 2023, in what was the longest multiple-ballot speaker election since before the Civil War. McCarthy’s perseverance was kind of impressive, but mostly pretty pathetic.
Timothee Chalamet as Willy Wonka
The first trailer for Wonka, starring Timothee Chalamet, was released in July to a mixed response, with many internet users criticizing Chalamet’s lack of whimsy. One line from his monotone-inclined monologue, in particular, was ridiculed to the point of becoming a viral TikTok sound: “You see, I’m something of a magician, inventor and chocolate maker. So quiet up and listen down. Nope, scratch that, reverse it.”
Grimace
This summer, McDonald’s started selling Grimace Shakes, a berry-flavored milkshake in honor of Grimace’s — the purple, milkshake-loving beast from McDonaldland — 52nd birthday. It didn’t take long for TikTok to turn the new marketing strategy into a meme. Users on the video-sharing app began filming themselves ordering the drink then collapsing and pretending to die. The shakes and ensuing TikTok trend cemented the already-memeable mascot into a cultural icon — akin to our other furry monster friend, Gritty.
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