Kanye Watches "21 Jump Street" / Jonah Hill

About

Kanye Watches 21 Jump Street and Kanye and Jonah Hill refer to viral discourse and memes started by an Instagram post from Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, in March 2023 about watching the comedy movie 21 Jump Street and subsequently stating that he "liked Jewish people again" due to actor Jonah Hill and his performance. After the post was uploaded, screenshots went viral across social media, leading to memes about Jonah Hill saving Kanye in regard to his history of antisemitic remarks.

Origin

On March 25th, 2023, Ye posted the 21 Jump Street movie poster to Instagram^[1] and stated in the post's caption that he had watched the movie and Jonah Hill made him like Jewish people again. Over the course of two days, the post received roughly 3.2 million likes (shown below).

Watching Jonah Hill in 21 Jump street made me like Jewish people again

No one should take anger against one or two individuals and transform that into hatred towards millions of innocent people

No Christian can be labeled antisemite knowing Jesus is Jew

Thank you Jonah Hill I love you

Spread

Soon after the post's upload, it generated cross-platform discourse. For instance, one of the earliest tweets about Ye's post was shared by Twitter^[2] user @yandhiisntreal on March 25th, 2023, who asked, "alright guys, let's ask the important questions here / which scene do you think made him turn around." The tweet received roughly 7,100 likes in two days (shown below, left). Another early meme was uploaded by Twitter^[3] user @moshpitterr on March 25th, who tweeted an old photograph of Kanye and Jonah Hill in 2008 with the caption, "Jonah Hill: The Savior." The tweet gained roughly 6,000 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Memes spread elsewhere, such as to TikTok. For instance, on March 25th, 2023, TikToker^[4] @shoowpadoopa posted a video showing a contemplative Metro Man from Megamind with text reading, "Kanye after watching Jonah Hill in 21 Jump Street," earning roughly 5.3 million plays and 1.1 million likes in two days (shown below).

Another notable reaction to Ye's Instagram post was making memes that imagined Jonah Hill waking up in the morning to see the news about him. The earliest known meme about the concept was uploaded by Twitter^[5] user @ditzkoff on March 25th, who used an image from the Say the Line, Bart! template and gained roughly 66,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Various Examples

Kanye after watching Jonah Hill's performance in 21 Jump Street: pic.twitter.com/9cCWOswiWh

— Rick E Langston (@radvstheworld) March 25, 2023

Kanye West after watching the "My name is Jeff" scene https://t.co/QcMHYS0tyP pic.twitter.com/ZejayLKD1y

— Dete (@NxtDeterio) March 25, 2023

Search Interest

External References