What Is Will Smith Meme? Origin, Variations, and How It Went Viral
Few celebrity moments have captured the internet’s collective imagination quite like a good Will Smith meme. Whether he’s dropping cringe lines in YouTube Rewind, showing raw emotion at a red table, or making headlines with a single slap, Will Smith has become a meme magnet in the digital age.
The Will Smith meme phenomenon isn’t just about one viral image—it’s a constellation of moments that reflect everything from heartbreak to hilarity. These memes are emotional, chaotic, and endlessly remixable, making them perfect tools for the internet’s favorite pastime: turning real life into relatable, viral content.
Keep scrolling as we break down where each meme came from, why they hit so hard, and how Will Smith became the face of some of the internet’s most iconic moments.
What Is the Will Smith Meme?
The “Will Smith meme” isn’t a single image—it’s a series of viral moments featuring the actor. Some are deeply emotional, like the infamous “Sad Will Smith” screenshot, while others lean into absurdist territory, like the AI-generated “Will Smith Eating Spaghetti.”
These memes often surface during cultural flashpoints or emotional revelations, making them instantly sharable. They’re used to express disappointment, nostalgia, shock—or to poke fun at celebrity culture itself.
The Origins of Will Smith Memes
1. Sad Will Smith / Entanglement
This Sad Will Smith meme exploded on July 10th, 2020, after an episode of Red Table Talk featured Will and Jada Pinkett Smith discussing her relationship with singer August Alsina. When Jada described the affair as an “entanglement,” the term instantly caught fire online.
Quickly, the video went viral. Within 24 hours, it received over 4,000,000 views, 164,000 reactions, 163,000 shares and 74,000 comments.
Several notable remixes and variations quickly spread:
Twitter user @Whereisblockaye posted a military-themed edit captioned, “When you come home from a 9-month deployment and your girl is 6 months pregnant,” gaining over 21,000 likes.
Comedy writer Ziwe Fumudoh shared it with: “me when I reply to an email saying ‘no worries,’” earning more than 48,000 likes.
Instagram creator Adam the Creator inserted the Sad Will Smith face into an image of the Genie from Aladdin, receiving 28,000+ likes.
On July 11, 2020, YouTuber iMarkkeyz uploaded a remix of Jada saying “entanglement,” which reached over 61,000 views in a few days.
Media outlets like The Tab, USA Today, and BroBible also reported on the phenomenon, solidifying its cultural significance. The meme’s tags include #WillSmith, #Entanglement, #RedTableTalk, and #AugustAlsina, and it continues to be used as shorthand for quiet emotional devastation.
2. Will Smith Slaps Chris Rock
On March 27, 2022, during the 94th Academy Awards, Will Smith walked onstage and slapped comedian Chris Rock over a joke aimed at Jada. The moment was broadcast live, triggering a cultural frenzy.
Screenshots and slow-motion clips of the slap became instant meme fodder. Many labeled the two men with different identities to comment on politics, celebrity feuds, or workplace drama. The slap was meme-ified into everything from reaction formats to absurdist Photoshop battles.
3. “That’s Hot” and “It’s Rewind Time”
On Decenber 6th, 2018, YouTube posted its annual “YouTube Rewind 2018″ video. In that video, Will Smith opens the video by exclaiming: “It’s rewind time!” and later reacts to a Fortnite drop with, “Ah, that’s hot.” These cringey yet memeable lines sparked a new wave of remixes.
The format was picked up by gamers, YouTubers, and nostalgic meme-makers, who used his voice lines to comment on pop culture throwbacks or ironically praise low-effort content.
4. Will Smith Eating Spaghetti
In 2023, a bizarre AI-generated video titled “Will Smith eating spaghetti” emerged. The visuals were uncanny and disturbing, showing distorted renderings of Smith sloppily consuming pasta. It was surreal, chaotic—and undeniably viral.
The video became a symbol of the weirdness of AI art, prompting widespread sharing, parody, and debate about deepfake ethics. It blurred the line between comedy and cautionary tale.
How Did the Will Smith Memes Go Viral?
Will Smith memes often catch fire because they strike a chord—whether it’s empathy, cringe, or absurdity. Some key reasons for their virality:
- Emotional relatability – Will’s expressive face makes for powerful reaction content.
- High-profile moments – From Oscars controversies to viral interviews, his public appearances are heavily watched.
- Social media remix culture – Platforms like Twitter, TikTok, Reddit, and Instagram amplify content through edits, remixes, and reshares.
- Celebrity vulnerability – Audiences respond to raw, unfiltered moments—especially when they come from someone as beloved as Will.
Conclusion
From the tearful still of the “Sad Will Smith meme” to the shockwave of the Oscars slap and even the surreal “spaghetti face” clip, each Will Smith meme tells a story about how we digest celebrity culture, emotion, and absurdity in real time.
These moments resonate not just because of who Will is—but because his expressions, mistakes, and honesty mirror our own messy, meme-worthy lives. They’ve turned him into something more than an actor or internet icon: he’s become the perfect canvas for our most viral reactions.
And as long as the internet exists, one thing’s for sure—Will Smith memes aren’t going anywhere.
