About

Club 96 refers to a fictional nightclub on the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. On the series, contestants were challenged with creating a nightclub. Drag queens Naomi Small and Valentina formed "Club 96," an exclusive establishment the name of which was whispered by the contestants numerous times on the episode. Following its airing, fans of the series posted images of powerful and famous people whispering into each other's ears with the caption "Club 96."

Origin

On January 25th, 2019, the episode "Queen of Clubs" of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars aired in the United States.^[1] In the episode, Valentina and Naomi Smalls formed "Club 96" as part of the competition.

That day, the show's official Twitter ^[2] account posted a clip of the two whispering "Club 96." The post received more than 300 retweets and 1,800 likes in less than one week (shown below).

Stefon approves. 🙊 CLUB 96naomismallsduh</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AllOfValentina?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">allofvalentina @ritaora #AllStars4 pic.twitter.com/mdBB8di6zE

— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) January 26, 2019

Spread

Following the video, "Club 96" became an inside joke for fans of the show. That evening, Twitter^[3] user @loerydes tweeted a picture from the animated television series Dexter's Laboratory with the caption "Club 96" (shown below, left).

Over the next few days, fans of the series continued to share images of famous figures whispering with the caption "Club 96." For example, on January 31st, Twitter^[4] user @joeynolfi tweeted an image of a woman whispering to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The post received more than 630 retweets and 3,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, center). Twitter^[5] user @urdadssidepiece tweeted an image of Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley whispering in Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's ear. The post received more than 630 retweets and 4,500 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

On February 1st, the website PopBuzz^[6] published a listicle on the meme.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References