[43] The book's author, a vice-principal with the Denton Independent School District, was reassigned after the publicity. Pepe the Frog's image is being rehabilitated in Hong Kong where democracy protesters have embraced... [+] AFP via Getty Images When cartoonist Matt Furie conceived Pepe the Frog… Pepe the Frog also took off after pop singer Katy Perry tweeted the following as a "sad frog" meme: Australian jet lag got me like pic.twitter.com/kriAAd6mZe. [6], Pepe was used in blog posts on Myspace and became an in-joke on Internet forums. Matt Furie with a great single page send-off. I find complete joy in physically, emotionally, and spiritually serving Pepe and his friends through comics. PROTIP: Press the ← and → keys to navigate the gallery, 'g' to view the gallery, or 'r' to view a random image. Pepe originated in a 2005 comic by Matt Furie called Boy's Club. Pepe became a tongue-in-cheek symbol of the "alt-right" fringe movement and its loosely connected brand of white nationalism, neo-Nazism and anti-immigration. Feels bad, man", "Russian Embassy Posts Pepe The Frog Meme, A White Supremacist Hate Symbol, According To ADL", "The Russian government just tweeted an image of a white supremacist frog", "White nationalist Richard Spencer punched during interview", "Pepe's creator comments on alt-right leader Richard Spencer getting punched", "Exclusive: The Creator of Pepe the Frog Is Voting for Hillary", "Pepe the Frog Creator Matt Furie Pens New Comic Showing Pepe's Alt-Right Nightmare", "Pepe the Frog creator's new Trump comic captures the horror of the 2016 election", "Pepe the Frog 'is killed off to avoid being a hate symbol, "Pepe lives! "Before Pepe the Frog was a meme designated a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League, he began his life as a blissfully stoned frog in my comic book Boy's Club where he … The Democrats have a donkey. Pepe for the people!". Since 2014, "Rare Pepes" have been posted on the (sarcastic) "meme market" as if they were trading cards. The alt-right social media platform used by suspected Pittsburgh shooter Robert Bowers", "Anger over "sick" video game that allows you to play as Donald Trump gunning down migrants, feminists and Antifa", "Mosque Arson Suspect Left Social Media Hints of Anti-Muslim, Anti-Semitic Views", "Alt-right trolls Pennsylvania with billboard of Trump Pepe", "Wew, lad: Everyone hates this meme that simply refuses to die", "Bungie explains how Destiny 2 armor resembling hate symbol made it into the game", "Writings of French Hindu who worshipped Hitler as an avatar of Vishnu are inspiring the US alt-right", "In Charlottesville, GOP candidate for governor Corey Stewart allies with alt-right-inspired blogger who wants to protect 'glorious Western civilization, "Naked Nigel, the God Kek and modern politics", "Cucks & Kek: Racism's Old Guard Reaches Out To An Online Generation", "Meet the White Nationalist Trying To Ride The Trump Train to Lasting Power", "Trump Fans Unleash Last-Minute Flood of Pepe the Frog Memes", "Trump's Occult Online Supporters Believe 'Meme Magic' Got Him Elected", "4chan Isn't Sure Whether It's Excited the Times Wrote Up Its Anti-Semitism", "Trump Supporters Outraged By Slight To Pepe Meme", "CPAC's Flirtation With the Alt-Right Is Turning Awkward", "The alt-right is trying to co-opt that dumb purple bird on Facebook", "Kek, Cucks, and God Emperor Trump: A Measurement Study of 4chan's Politically Incorrect Forum and Its Effects on the Web", "How an ancient Egyptian god spurred the rise of Trump", "Trump Supporters And Neo-Nazis Are Using Secret Chatrooms To Harass Shia LaBeouf", "The Emerging Racists: The Challenge of Covering the Radical Right", "Steal This Show S02E02: 'The Platform Is You, "In Elaborate Joke, Internet Provocateurs Turn 'Trash Bird' Into Nazi Icon", "Les trolls de 4chan sont persuadés d'avoir fait élire Donald Trump", "What 'alt-right' really means: a glossary of terms", "More Swastikas Surface In Hell's Kitchen, Newtown Creek Nature Walk", "What the Kek: Explaining the Alt-Right 'Deity' Behind Their 'Meme Magic, "Hiding in plain sight: how the 'alt-right' is weaponizing irony to spread fascism", "Democracy in Crisis: Populism, Belonging, and Inside Jokes at Trump's Reality Show Rally", "The Battle for Berkeley: In the name of freedom of speech, the radical right is circling the Ivory Tower to ensure a voice for the alt-right", "Deconstructing the symbols and slogans spotted in Charlottesville", "Here's a guide to the white nationalist groups involved in the Charlottesville demonstration", "What is Kekistan? Its usage as an Internet meme came from his comic Boy's Club #1. Pepe the Frog (/ˈpɛpeɪ/) is an Internet meme consisting of a green anthropomorphic frog with a humanoid body. [99], "Frog meme" redirects here. It cost him his job", "Pepe the Frog Cartoonist Stops Distribution of Children's Book", "Gab, the Alt-Right's Very Own Twitter, Is The Ultimate Filter Bubble", "What is Gab? Since late 2016, the satirical ethnicity of Kekistan has been used by U.S.-based alt-right protesters opposed to what they view as political correctness. Pepe’s creator, Matt Furie, who introduced the laid-back frog character in a 2005 strip from his webcomic Boys’ Club, laid the frog to rest in a new … [90][91] There is some disagreement around the specifics of Groyper: it is alternatively said to be a depiction of the Pepe character,[91] a different character from Pepe but of the same species,[92] or a toad. [94], A 2020 documentary, Feels Good Man, relates the story of Pepe's origins and co-option by the alt-right, and Furie's attempts to regain control over his creation. [95][98] Hong Kongers were generally unaware that Pepe the Frog had been appropriated by the alt-right and white supremacists in the United States. [8][9] Since then, Furie has expressed his dismay at Pepe being used as a hate symbol and has sued organisations for doing so.[7]. Whether it's a dog (Andy), a bunny (Brett), a frog (Pepe), or Landwolf (a humanoid version of snuffaluffagus), or any combination of such, puerile acts that are just as puerile as the art that depicts them floods each panel. Pepe the Frog was originally created in 2005 as part of “Boys Club”, a comic strip based on Matt Furie and his stoner college friends "[38][39] Soon thereafter, Furie announced his intention to "resurrect" Pepe, launching a crowdfunding campaign for a new comic book featuring Pepe. Before notoriously being tagged as a symbol of hate speech by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Anti-Defamation League, the frog began his life as part of a quartet of animal-human slackers in a comic, Boy’s Club, created circa 2005 by San Francisco-based cartoonist Matt Furie. Segal said he doubts Pepe's cartoon death will erode his iconic status with the "alt-right" movement. [95] Furie responded in an email with a protester, stating "This is great news! That poor man did not know the can of worms he just opened. [90][91], In August 2019, it was reported that various demonstrators at the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests were using Pepe as a "resistance symbol". "Before he got wrapped up in politics, Pepe was an inside-joke and a symbol for feeling sad or feeling good and many things in between," Furie wrote. [40], In June 2017, a proposed app and Flappy Bird clone called "Pepe Scream" was rejected from the Apple App Store due to its depiction of Pepe the Frog. [66], "Esoteric Kekism",[53] also called "the Cult of Kek",[67] is a parody religion worshipping Pepe the Frog, which sprang from the similarity of the slang term for laughter, "kek", and the name of the ancient Egyptian frog god of darkness, Kek. For the image of a frog riding a unicycle, see, "My Pepe philosophy is simple: 'Feels good man.' [68], Heat Street's Ian Miles Cheong credits Carl Benjamin, who uses the pseudonym Sargon of Akkad on YouTube, for popularizing the meme. “Boys Club” resembled many aspects of his life, especially his friends. [6][11], In the comic, Pepe is seen urinating with his pants pulled down to his ankles and the catchphrase "feels good man" was his rationale. [90] Groyper is depicted as a rotund green, frog-like creature with its chin resting on interlocked fingers. Juvenile potty/drug-induced humor ubiquitously characterizes every page of Matt Furie's Boy's Club. [47], In June 2019, Furie received a $15,000 out of court settlement in a copyright infringement case against Infowars and Alex Jones concerning unlicensed use of the image of Pepe the Frog on far-right themed posters. [10] He posted his comic in a series of blog posts on Myspace in 2005. Pepe the Frog - Boys Club Like us on Facebook! Pepe started as a character in Furie's 2005 small indie comic Boys Club. "This whole Pepe co-opting experience has been pretty rough on Matt as an independent artist," Cohen said. Most people who have seen images of the now-infamous Pepe the Frog probably wouldn’t describe him that way. "The artist isn't in control of his work once it enters the culture in the way it has," Spencer said. In a Time magazine essay last year, Furie described Pepe as "chill frog-dude" who debuted in a 2006 comic book called "Boy's Club" and became a popular online subject for user-generated mutations. In the Hong Kong context, Pepe the Frog is not perceived as being connected with far-right ideology. These Kekistanis decry the "oppression" of their people and troll counterprotesters by waving the "national flag of Kekistan" (modeled after the Nazi war flag, with the red replaced by green, the Iron Cross replaced by the logo for 4chan, and the swastika replaced by a rubric for KEK). I got some plans for Pepe that I can't really discuss, but he's going to rise from the ashes like a phoenix ... in a puff of marijuana smoke. The cartoonist who created Pepe the Frog has killed off the character in a rebuke to far-right extremists who transformed a benevolent internet meme into a racist, anti-Semitic symbol. [21][22][23] In May 2016, Olivia Nuzzi of The Daily Beast wrote that there was "an actual campaign to reclaim Pepe from normies" and that "turning Pepe into a white nationalist icon" was an explicit goal of some on the alt-right. Pepe made his debut in the “Boys Club ... Pepe the Frog’s likeness was used in Nazi and white supremacist memes that proliferated across social media and the darker corners of the Internet. Furie has welcomed the use of Pepe by Hong Kong protesters. In 2005, Matt Furie—then in his early 20s— created a comic book called Boys Club in which a cartoon frog named Pepe acted out the dumb, laid-back … Pepe memes promoting Donald Trump's presidential campaign became so ubiquitous that Trump himself tweeted an image blending his likeness with the cartoon frog in October 2015. [52] "Esoteric Kekism" references the "Esoteric Hitlerism" of writer Savitri Devi. [6] The meme took off among 4chan users, who adapted Pepe's face and catchphrase to fit different scenarios and emotions, such as melancholy, anger, and surprise. [17][18], During the 2016 United States presidential election, the meme was connected to Donald Trump's campaign. The site is popular with the alt-right. By 2015, it had become one of the most popular memes used on 4chan and Tumblr. [87] The record gained attention from the group in September 2016 because of the name of the group (P.E.P.E) and art on the record depicting a frog holding a magic wand. Artist Matt Furie says internet-famous frog will 'rise from the ashes, "Pepe the Frog rises from the dead, creator says", "Pepe Is Banned From the Apple App Store", "Apple deems Pepe 'objectionable' and bans the frog from its App Store", "An assistant principal wrote a children's book about alt-right mascot Pepe the frog. In 2019, Pepe was used by protesters in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. The original artist of the pepe the frog character has killed him off. He originally created Pepe the Frog in 2005 and introduced the image to … McConnell says "we're getting closer and closer" to COVID relief deal, Minnesota frees man convicted of killing child hit by stray bullet, GOP leadership urges Senate Republicans to not protest election results, In a first, feds have executed more inmates this year than states, Babysitter's web searches lead to murder charge in girl's death, Family calls for officer firing, bodycam release in fatal police shooting, Biden expected to tap Jennifer Granholm for energy secretary, MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, donates $4.2 billion, Biden and Harris to be sworn in at Capitol, but public urged to stay home, Biden expected to nominate Pete Buttigieg to be transportation secretary, Biden accuses Trump of "unprecedented assault on democracy", Republicans acknowledge Biden as president-elect after Electoral College, CBS News poll: Most feel election is "settled" but Trump voters disagree, Biden, Harris introduce team who will "deliver immediate relief", Biden facing pressure to pick Rep. Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary, Biden to nominate Tai for trade rep and McDonough for veterans affairs, Biden introduces his pick to lead Defense Department, Biden to nominate Marcia Fudge to lead HUD, The Anti-Defamation League branded Pepe as a hate symbol, Major snowstorm bears down on the Northeast, Treasure hunter jailed 5 years still won't say where gold coins are, Minnesota frees man convicted of killing child with stray bullet, California Privacy/Information We Collect. © 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. [6] In 2015, Pepe was #6 on Daily News and Analysis's list of the most important memes and the most retweeted meme on Twitter. [3] Different types of Pepe include "Sad Frog", "Smug Frog", "Angry Pepe", "Feels Frog", and "You will never..." Frog. The progenitor of Boy's Club was a zine Furie made on Microsoft Paint called Playtime, which included Pepe as a character. Copyright © 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. [27][9] In January 2017, in a response to "pundits" calling on Theresa May to disrupt Trump's relationship with Russia, the Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom tweeted an image of Pepe. [55][56][57][58][59][60] Kek is associated with the occurrence of repeating digits, known as "dubs",[original research?] This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. “HAPPY LITTLE FROG” A guileless goofball not unlike his most famous drawn character, Furie introduced humanoid amphibian Pepe in 2005 as part of his Boy’s Club comic. [4][5][6], In the 2010s, the character's image was appropriated as a symbol of the alt-right movement, as well as by white supremacists. Spare a thought for poor Matt Furie, a wonderful indie comics creator whose Boys' Club comics featured a lovable frog called Pepe that was adopted … Fantagraphics, which published "Boy's Club," also published the one-page strip in which Furie killed off Pepe. Previous: View Gallery Random Image: Initially self-published, the book was subsequently published by Post Hill Press. "That's a huge challenge," said Oren Segal, director of the ADL's Center on Extremism. [13], In 2014, images of Pepe were shared on social media by celebrities such as Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj. These images, sometimes as physical paintings,[15][16] were sold on eBay and posted on Craigslist. [79][80][81] This flag was prominently displayed at the 2017 Berkeley protest for free speech in mid-April,[82][83] and the Unite the Right rally in August 2017. "It just didn't pick up.". [93][94], Hong Kong protestors began to use depictions of Pepe the Frog as a symbol of liberty and resistance against the extradition bill and police brutality in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. ", "How Pepe the Frog Became a Nazi Trump Supporter and Alt-Right Symbol", "Donald Trump, Pepe the frog, and white supremacists: an explainer", "Hillary Clinton attacks Donald Trump for posting Pepe the Frog meme", "Pepe the Frog meme is now on the ADL's hate symbol database. He posted his comic in a series of blog posts on Myspace in 2005. Pepe the Frog is an online meme character popular with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and online fascists. "The Republicans have an elephant. Matt Furie’s created the socially inept frog back in 2008 for the comic book series called “boys club” but the frog was quickly adopted by the internet and crowned the king of memes. In 2008, the page containing Pepe and the catchphrase was scanned and uploaded to 4chan's /b/ board, which has been described as the meme's "permanent home". Furie … [45][46], In 2018, Furie succeeded in having images of Pepe removed from The Daily Stormer website. Skip to content. Pepe the Frog was created by American artist and cartoonist Matt Furie in 2005. [6][12][14] As Pepe became more widespread, 4chan users began referring to particularly creative and unique variants of the meme as "rare Pepes". The suit was settled out of court in August 2017, with terms including the withdrawal of the book from publication and the profits being donated to the nonprofit Council on American-Islamic Relations. Free shipping for many products! Pepe started as a character in Furie's 2005 small indie comic Boys Club. [30][31], In an interview with Esquire, Furie said of Pepe's usage as a hate symbol, "It sucks, but I can't control it more than anyone can control frogs on the Internet". New images of Pepe the Frog surfaced showing Pepe with an injured eye after a young female first aider got her eye gouged by a projectile thrown by police and spurred a new protest campaign called "An eye for an eye". [90] The Groyper meme is the namesake for Groypers, a loose group of white nationalist activists and followers of Nick Fuentes. [62][63][64][65] The phrase is widely used[52] and 4chan users see Kek as the "'god' of memes". Furie didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday. Art; News; Shop; Support; New Book; The Night Riders; Contact; Page 1 of 2 1 2 » Kyle Bristow, a Michigan attorney who founded a self-described "alt-right" nonprofit educational group called the Foundation for the Marketplace of Ideas, said he already has seen a meme depicting Pepe as Jesus rising from the dead. [7], In January 2019, the video game Jesus Strikes Back: Judgment Day was released, which allows players to play as Pepe the Frog, among other figures, and murder various target groups including feminists, minorities, and liberals. [61], Online message boards such as 4chan first noted a similarity between Kek and Pepe. The Internet's Most Controversial Political Meme Explained", "Meet Big Man Tyrone, the president of Kekistan (not a real country)", "The Far Right's New Toad Mascot Is a Fatter, More Racist Pepe the Frog", "Why alt-right trolls shouted down Donald Trump Jr", "Why Donald Trump Jr. Was Heckled by 'America First Nationalists, "Activists Adopt Pepe Memes in Hong Kong Protests", "How Pepe the Frog became face of Hong Kong protests – despite cartoon being a symbol of hate in US", "Hong Kong Protesters Love Pepe the Frog. He's currently based in Los Angeles. The alt-right has a cartoon frog," Bristow said with a laugh. A sign with Pepe with an injured eye held by a young nurse with one eye covered gained international media attention. Matt Furie was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1979 and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware in 2001. Furie wasn't amused by how his creation became an "icon of hate," calling it a "nightmare" in his Time essay. on 4chan, as if he had the ability to influence reality through Internet memes. Its usage as an Internet meme came from his comic Boy's Club #1. Artist Matt Furie says internet-famous frog will 'rise from the ashes, "As It Happens: Pepe lives! The comic centered around crude bodily humor… A Pepe cartoon released Saturday in comic book stores shows Matt Furie's creation in an open casket. The Proud Boys, meanwhile, are a far … [28][29] White supremacist Richard B. Spencer, during a street interview after Trump's inauguration, was preparing to explain the meaning of a Pepe pin on his jacket when he was punched in the face, with the resulting video itself becoming the source of many memes. [52] This deity, in turn, was associated with Pepe the Frog on internet forums. #freecomicbookday #mattfurie https://t.co/lKGUL9lmyd pic.twitter.com/qhngOyoVPV. [86] Benjamin claimed that Kekistanis could technically classify as an ethnic group for the British census, and contacted the Office for National Statistics to request that it be added,[88] but was unsuccessful. [2] Color was also added; originally a black-and-white line drawing, Pepe became green with brown lips, sometimes in a blue shirt. "[7], "Kek" originated as a variation of "lel", itself a variation of "lol",[48][49] and seems to come from the video game World of Warcraft,[50] or alternatively a Korean onomatopoeia for laughter written as "kekeke". Furie stated that he would continue to "enforce his copyrights aggressively to make sure nobody else is profiting off associating Pepe the Frog with hateful imagery. Matt Furie… [96][97] In the Hong Kong context, Pepe the Frog is not perceived as being connected with far-right ideology. [25][26] The Anti-Defamation League, an American organization opposed to antisemitism, included Pepe in its hate symbol database but wrote that most instances of Pepe were not used in a hate-related context. [24] In September 2016, an article published on Hillary Clinton's campaign website described Pepe as "a symbol associated with white supremacy" and denounced Trump's campaign for its supposed promotion of the meme. [2][6] 4chan users referred to those who used the meme outside the website as "normies" (or "normalfags"). "@codyave: @drudgereport @BreitbartNews @Writeintrump "You Can't Stump the Trump" https://t.co/0xITB7XeJV pic.twitter.com/iF6S05se2w". [79] The name is a portmanteau of "kek" and the suffix "-stan", a common Central Asian country suffix. [32] Fantagraphics Books, Furie's publisher, issued a statement condemning the "illegal and repulsive appropriations of the character". [52][68] Kek references are closely associated with Trump and the alt-right. [80][87] Kekistanis have also adopted Internet personality Gordon Hurd (in his "Big Man Tyrone" persona) as their president and the 1986 Italo disco record "Shadilay" as a national anthem. The Anti-Defamation League branded Pepe as a hate symbol in September 2016 and promoted Furie's efforts to reclaim the character, with a social media campaign using the "#SavePepe" hashtag. Each comic is sacred, and the compassion of my readers transcends any differences, the pain, and fear of 'feeling good'. He created a comic called Boys Club, which is about four anthropomorphic pals living out a post-college haze. "I understand that it's out of my control, but in the end, Pepe is whatever you say he is, and I, the creator, say that Pepe is love.". [51] The phrase then became associated with the Egyptian deity of the same name. It is based on the meaning of the word Pepe: 'To go Pepe'. As Matt Furie conceived him, Pepe the Frog was mellow, harmless and likable. The slack-jawed frog was originally created by artist Matt Furie in 2005 as part of the zine “Boy’s Club.”The comic revolves around the absurd, marijuana-fueled antics of Pepe and his crew ― Andy, Brett and Landwolf. –Matt Furie, 2015 interview with The Daily Dot[2], Pepe the Frog was created by American artist and cartoonist Matt Furie in 2005. He Was Never About Hate", "How Internet Trolls Won the 2016 Presidential Election", Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy, Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump, Storming of the Legislative Council Complex, 2020 detainment of Hong Kong residents at sea by China, Controversies of the Hong Kong Police Force, Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times, Memorials for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pepe_the_Frog&oldid=994128666, Controversies of the 2016 United States presidential election, Articles with dead external links from March 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, Short description is different from Wikidata, All articles that may contain original research, Articles that may contain original research from June 2017, Articles lacking reliable references from November 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 14 December 2020, at 05:48. [77], Kekistan is a fictional country created by 4chan members that has become a political meme and online movement. [86][87] Self-identified Kekistanis have created a fictional history around the meme, including the invasion and overthrow of other fictional countries such as "Normistan" and "Cuckistan". [89][better source needed], A variation of Pepe known as "Groyper" or “Easter Frog” was used as early as 2015, and became popular in 2017. But internet trolls hijacked the character and began flooding social media with hateful Pepe memes more than a year before the 2016 presidential election. [53][54], During the 2016 United States presidential election, Kek became associated with alt-right politics. The app's developer, under the name "MrSnrhms", posted a screenshot of his rejection letter on /r/The Donald.