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What's The 'Lana Rhoades' Kid' Meme About? Who Is Lana Rhoades And Why Is Her Baby A Viral Topic On The Internet?
The American podcaster, social media influencer and former adult film actress Lana Rhoades have been the subject of infamous memes like "I hope Mom and Dad don't find out" and the series of memes and discussions revolving around her baby that began after her pregnancy announcement in June 2021.
The 26-year-old does not want to recollect her time in the adult film industry and has spoken in numerous interviews about the trauma it caused her. Yet, somehow, the online community keeps reminding her of the past and also finds a way to joke about her future.
Curious about why Lana Rhoades' kid became the subject of memes? Let's explain.
What Is Lana Rhoades' Kid Meme About?
In April 2016, at the age of 19, the American Lana Rhoades began her career in adult films professionally. A few years later, in early September of 2018, she became the face of a recontextualized porn meme, "I hope Mom and Dad don't find out." The meme was used as a reaction image and was paired with captions expressing guilt over a secret.
The popularity of the meme above made her pregnancy announcement in June 2021 the perfect fuel for a series of sexist memes mocking the baby and her pregnancy. For example, Twitter user @MMAThanos tweeted on June 6th, 2021, that her baby would "come out like a water slide," which was a recurring joke in the memes about her pregnancy during that period (shown below).
Why Did Lana Rhoades' Baby Father Become A Viral Topic On The Internet?
On August 24th, 2022, a rumor started on TikTok alleging that Lana Rhoades' baby's father was purportedly an NBA player. Rhoades herself posted a video weeks after the rumor was spread, which had a text overlay reading, "I swear to God I thought NBA Players were nice guys," ultimately verifying the NBA player narrative.
Thus, netizens felt inspired to further investigate the Rhoades' baby father's identity. They first isolated a quote from a podcast interview in which she comments about a date with a Brooklyn Nets player around the same time that she became pregnant. This narrowed it down to two Nets players, Blake Griffin and Kevin Durant, as Twitter user HokageLaker explained in a thread they started on June 7th, 2021, titled, "Kevin Durant is banging Lana Rhodes, a thread:" The post (shown below) received roughly 8,900 likes over the course of two years.
As of August 16th, 2023, Rhoades hasn’t confirmed the baby's dad's identity.
What Was Lana Rhoades's Response To The Memes About Her Kid?
On June 2021, Lana Rhoades was on a podcast when she brought up the many sexist memes that she's seen from her followers, briefly describing the types of messages she receives online. That same month, the YouTube channel @clumsymedia4021 took uploaded the podcast clip and gained over 185,000 views and 2,400 likes in two years. (shown below).
Her honest response, however, was turned into online mockery on TikTok, even years after the baby was born. For example, on June 12th, 2023, TikToker @flappier posted a video using clips from Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse to represent the birth of Lana Rhoades's Kid. The video (shown below, left) amassed over 2.9 million plays and 519,000 likes in two months. On June 8th, 2021, TikToker @lanabruhh posted a video showing some of the sexist comments Rhoades was receiving on her social media. The post (shown below, right) garnered more than 809,000 plays and 166,000 likes in two years.
@flappier Obessed with this video #fyp #funny #viral #meme ♬ original sound – 《flappier》
@lanabruhh Why do they make those comments?💔 #lanarhoades #lanabruhh #pregnant #fy #fypシ #foryou ♬ original sound – .
For the full history of Lana Rhoades' kid, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.
