Social media users might have noticed an old photo of Kevin James doing the rounds on social media this week in the form of various memes.
The photo shows the US actor pulling a sheepish smirk while shrugging his shoulders, which has been memed with various captions such as “when u accidentally like a selfie from 34 weeks ago” and “Hey aren’t you that guy from that meme”.
The picture, which seemingly re-emerged completely randomly, has been at the centre of the internet’s latest viral moment.
But where did it come from, and why are people sharing the picture?
Where did the Kevin James picture come from?
The photo at the centre of the newest meme is a Getty Images promotional shot from his ’90s sitcom The King Of Queens, in which James played deliveryman Doug Heffernan.
The show ran for 207 episodes across nine season which aired on CBS from 1998 to 2007.
The image can be found on Getty and is captioned as a “promotional portrait of American actor and comedian Kevin James in costume as the character Doug Heffernan as he poses with his hands in his pockets on the set of the television sitcom ‘The King of Queens,’ late 1990s”. The photo was taken by Tony Esparza for CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images.
According to Know Your Meme, the first known use of the image in meme format was posted by X/Twitter user @ChampagneAnyone on September 21, 2023 with the caption “me after 1 double rum and diet”.
me after 1 double rum and diet pic.twitter.com/zfJFNCuCbT
— andy from 5 to 7 (@ChampagneAnyone) September 22, 2023
How did it become a meme?
The photo of James has been used alongside captions about being shamelessly guilty, cheeky, bashful and confident.
The humour has divided opinion somewhat, though, with some X/Twitter users sharing meta, deadpan versions of the meme highlighting that the photo is just your average promo shot.
Whether or not this will meme will be fleeting viral moment or actually stand the test of time remains to be seen.
Check out some of the memes below.
My buddy’s buddy who I’ve never met before when I pull my vape out pic.twitter.com/M6GvYiUJxu
— Miscounted Cash Flow (@Miscountedcf) September 23, 2023
"Hey aren't you that guy from that meme?"
Kevin James: pic.twitter.com/YMLJcZE7AR
— Matjoman Randisavić (@klezmergord) September 25, 2023
When I see my toilet first thing in the morning pic.twitter.com/qjvlDqP6cr
— 𝐁𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐡𝐧 (@Buncahn) September 24, 2023
“I’ll take a shot if you take a shot”
Me: pic.twitter.com/Q6FEYuiWa2
— 𝓝 (@elgueroatl) September 24, 2023
Me when I’m Kevin James doing promotional photos for “King of Queens” pic.twitter.com/9Qb4GXAPH5
— Ashley Reese (@offbeatorbit) September 25, 2023
“did you clog the toilet again?”
me: pic.twitter.com/DF92Pewg2m— Jay Morris (@xpaytheprice) September 23, 2023
Me:"I hate that Kevin James meme"
Kevin James memes: pic.twitter.com/zgrSyX1Wuh
— Su
(@Subh_B3) September 25, 2023
The post Kevin James meme explained: why are people sharing ‘King Of Queens’ photo? appeared first on NME.
