About

RIP Bozo, often written as RIPBOZO, is a phrase used online to celebrate a person's death, deeming them a "bozo," commonly defined as someone who is insignificant and stupid or a "clown." The phrase first appeared on Instagram in 2015 as the hashtag #RipBozo, becoming associated with a reaction video of NBA commentator James Worthy smoking a cigar alongside text reading "#PACKWATCH" and "REST IN PISS YOU WON'T BE MISSED" in late 2020.

Origin

Sometime prior to May 28th, 2015, the now-deleted Instagram user @bigfend, who now runs the account @bigfendii, posted an image of himself standing amongst a crowd wearing a black trenchcoat and sunglasses with the caption, "I Stopped By One Of My Biggest Haters Funeral Today 🙏 Just To Make Sure That Nigga Was Dead 😏#RipBozo #DieHatersDie" (shown below). On May 28th, Instagram^[1] user @gramgirl_blondie_kay shared a screenshot of the post.

On November 13th, 2019, Instagram^[2] user @mcponalds shared the screenshot, captioned, "This is a hood classic. Old but gold," garnering over 1,100 likes in roughly two years. On January 1st, Instagram^[3] user @cartiercrackheadz posted a version of the image with additional top-text reading, "Chris Paul hearing the news that David Stern passed away," implying he doesn't care (shown below). The post gained over 4,000 likes in two years.

Spread

The phrase "Rip Bozo" and its hashtag continued to spread over the course of 2020 through variations on the @bigfend post. Soon, web users began using the phrase on its own to comedically disrespect people. For example, on July 28th, 2020, Instagram^[4] user @ynwnutsack posted a video macro mocking people who pretend to be from "the hood" but live in luxury, garnering over 376,000 views in nine months (shown below). On August 9th, the video was shared by Instagram^[5] page @memerus.w, garnering 136,000 views and 16,000 likes in a comparable span of time.

Smoking That Ethan Pack

On June 18th, 2020, social media influencer and makeup guru Ethanisupreme tweeted,^[17] "I hope XXXTENTACTION is having fun in hell," garnering over 800 likes and 1,500 quote retweets, many criticizing the influencer for their opinion (shown below).

On September 6th, Ethanisupreme passed away at the age of 17 due to an overdose.^[18] On that day, Twitter users began flooding the tweet with comments and posts disrespecting the influencer's death, many using the phrase "RIP Bozo" and variations of the phrase "smoking that Ethan pack" (example shown below). The snowclone Smoking On That X Pack has since been closely associated with the phrase "RIP Bozo," often appearing together in memes and posts to double-down on the disrespect, as "smoking" someone is a way to put disrespect on them.^[12]

On September 7th, Twitter^[10] user @itsjlmv posted a video consisting of a still image of Kraven the Hunter disguised as Spider-Man from the 1987 comic series "Kraven's Last Hunt." standing over a grave with folded hands, a cry-laughing emoji pasted over his face, and "#RIPBOZO👎😹👎" written on the screen set to Chief Keef's "Laughin' To The Bank"^[8] (shown below) in response to the post. The video was reposted to YouTube^[11] on September 13th, by abnerx6, garnering over 26,000 views.

On September 12th, YouTuber^[19] luci posted a video collecting various related "smoking that Ethan pack" and "RIP Bozo" memes, garnering over 6,900 views in seven months. The incident greatly helped spread each phrase, as well as combined the two. The video has since been made private.

#PACKWATCH💯💨 RIPBOZO🤣🤣

On October 8th, 2020, Twitter^[6] user @EBK_Koff replied to a Twitter post by music publication The Fader about Tory Lanez being charged for shooting rapper Megan Thee Stallion with a video of NBA player and commentator James Worthy smoking a cigar surrounded by top-text reading, "#PACKWATCH💯💨" and bottom text reading, "RIPBOZO🤣🤣 REST IN PISS YOU WONT BE MISSED💯💯🤣" (shown below). The video is set to "Laughin' To The Bank." This is the earliest known use of the video, which garnered over 115 likes in six months. On October 9th, the video was posted by YouTuber^[9] PlayboiSlxtt, garnering over 130,000 views in six months.

The video of James Worthy is taken from a 2018 Sportsnet broadcast following a win by the Lakers and was posted to Twitter^[7] on February 4th of that year.

On January 17th, Instagram^[13] page @steelershumor posted EBK_Koff's video with the caption, "Me and the rest of Chiefs Kingdom smoking that Browns pack 💯" after a Browns loss, garnering over 2,000 views in three months.

The video gained significant popularity on iFunny in April 2021, resulting in a number of popular edits. For example, on April 4th, iFunny^[15] user Dyatlov posted a video combining a screenshot of a gravestone in Minecraft made for the player's deceased high school girlfriend with the video, ironically disrespecting the girlfriend, garnering over 2,200 smiles in 17 days (shown below).

On April 9th, iFunny^[16] user ICE_Agent uploaded a video combining a headline about Prince Philip's death with the video, also garnering over 2,200 smiles in 12 days (shown below).

On April 20th, 2021, Twitter^[14] user @ComradeToguro posted a video of an older person smoking in a car captioned, "SMOKIN THAT DERRICK CHAUVIN PACK TONIGHT #ripbozo," in response to Derrick Chauvin being found guilty in the trial of George Floyd's death that day, garnering over 5,700 likes and 1,600 retweets in a day (shown below).

Joel Embiid Post

On February 10th, 2022, the Philadelphia 76ers traded maligned point guard Ben Simmons and other players to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden. In apparent celebration of the trade, 76ers star Joel Embiid tweeted the original "RIPBozo" picture, much to the celebration of NBA fans.

Petition For Big Fendi To Ring The Bell At 76ers Game

On February 28th, inspired by Embiid's post, a Change.org^[20] petition was started to get Big Fendi, the star of the original RIPBOZO meme, to ring the bell at a 76ers vs. Nets game on March 10th. The petition gained over 6,000 signatures with an ultimate goal of 7,500 by March 2nd. Fendi supported the petition, tweeting a photo of himself with 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin along with the link (shown below).

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Various Examples

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External References