Today’s lesson: SMH not only stands for Shaking My Head, but also Social Media Hell.
Which is where comedy legend Bill Cosby found himself Monday night when his Twitter feed suggested, whether naively or cavalierly, “Go ahead. Meme me!” With a link to a #CosbyMeme generator and suggestion box that told fans: “After generating your meme, it will be submitted for review. Upon approval, you’ll receive an email containing a link to your #CosbyMeme By clicking “submit”, you agree to the terms of use.”
Yeah. Well. Go figure. Plenty of people jumped on the meme both on his site and directly on Twitter with memes alluding to the more than dozen rape allegations against Cosby over the past three decades. Cosby had settled out of court when a civil suit generated 13 witnesses against him, as recounted in a 2006 People magazine investigation. It all pretty much got swept under the rug by our collective pop-culture consciousness after that, until last month when the media was reminded of it all by Hannibal Buress, who had been cracking jokes at Cosby’s expense onstage.
So when Cosby asked fans to meme him Monday, people were more than happy to show him the error of his ways. And quickly.
Cosby’s query went out at 5:38 p.m. EDT.
If you're wondering how @BillCosby's team *thought* #CosbyMeme would go, these are the examples from his website. pic.twitter.com/skq3WC7sBM
— dan barker (@danbarker) November 10, 2014
But here, in chronological order, from among the the flood of replies, the most striking reactions. As comedian Michelle Collins wrote @MichColl: “Someone should tell @BillCosby that no memes no.”
How's this @BillCosby? pic.twitter.com/SKQMGkqKjl
— Henster (@Soft_Serve) November 10, 2014
This one should easily get approved! #CosbyMeme pic.twitter.com/GYysETPODn
— Jake Currie (@jakecurrie) November 10, 2014
.@BillCosby This is fun! #CosbyMeme pic.twitter.com/O1ScpMBzqA
— Matthew Bramlett (@matthewbramlett) November 10, 2014
@BillCosby this won’t end well pic.twitter.com/IiXP4fD9vR
— Boarcane (@Boarcane) November 10, 2014
.@BillCosby pic.twitter.com/aJ6Z5AMsWE
— Adam Wilson (@theleanover) November 10, 2014
The mystery behind Cosby's fashions revealed! #CosbyMeme pic.twitter.com/dgGJuBbSXx
— Myka Fox (@MykaFox) November 10, 2014
Don't mind if I do… #CosbyMeme pic.twitter.com/vdS2icWEHD
— Rusty Redenbacher (@rustymk2) November 10, 2014
#CosbyMeme @BillCosby pic.twitter.com/SPTUnuiDF8
— Billy Shakespeare (@hueyknew) November 10, 2014
Man. #cosbymeme pic.twitter.com/NOZrK4b5gG
— Adam Hammer (@AdamHammer) November 10, 2014
So Bill Cosby asked ya'll to meme him? #CosbyMeme pic.twitter.com/JzKmUVQSNk
— Tara L. Conley (@taralconley) November 10, 2014
SMH, indeed.
WTG @BillCosby You took the bad media off of @ArtieQuitter (Artie Lange). Great job!!