What Is A 'Divorce Selfie?' The Viral Meme Trend Explained

So, it happened. She finally said, "John, I want a divorce" and took the kids. While things may look bleak at first, you can always look on the bright side. Now you have the perfect opportunity for a divorce selfie, a final goodbye between two divorcees encapsulated forever by the wonders of modern photography and blasted online for millions to gawk at. Here's an explainer.

What Is A 'Divorce Selfie' And Where Does The Meme Come From?

A divorce selfie is exactly what it sounds like: it's a selfie taken by a couple going through a divorce, often at the time they're signing the divorce papers, in the courtroom, or after just having signed the papers. The first known divorce selfie was posted to Instagram in April 2014 and it shows a seemingly divorced couple taking a photo in front of an eagle painting, with smiles on both of their faces.

The trend spread over the following years as people posted new divorce selfies, often looking happy despite the otherwise sad situation. However, that isn't the case with the most popular example of a divorce selfie, published to Reddit's /r/pics board in May 2017. On that day, a Redditor posted a divorce selfie taken as they were signing the papers where both his soon-to-be ex-wife and the lawyer finalizing the papers look less than impressed. This photo would help spread the trend of divorce selfies social media-wide.

How Are Divorce Selfies Used In Memes?

The most popular divorce selfie memes are actually redraws of the May 2017 Reddit post. In the memes, people redraw the characters and setting of the viral selfie in the theme of a given media property, like a video game, TV show or movie. It's always funny to see characters from shows like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure or games like Undertale going through a divorce, offering memers a lot of fuel to play with.

While they're somewhat rare to come across, some people are still posting original divorce selfies to social media. If you ever come across one in the wild, maybe screenshot it and post it to Reddit for some sad, delicious karma. If you're going through a divorce, you can even get in on the trend yourself as long as things aren't too sour between you and your ex-partner. We do not recommend taking divorce selfies unless both parties consent. That's how you end up getting redrawn a million times on Tumblr.

For the full details on the divorce selfie meme, be sure to check out our entry on the meme here for even more information.