About

Son 😭😭😭😭😭 refers to a catchphrase, as well as a series of image macros and reaction images, that show characters or people with a text caption reading, "Son," followed by a string of "Loudly Crying Face" Emojis (😭). The images and the catchphrase were meant to convey being light-heartedly disappointed by someone or something and "crying," as in laughing, about it. In captions, Son 😭😭😭😭😭 was written with I'm Crine in many instances.

The original "Son" meme was a photo of actor Anthony Mackie smirking that had been edited to show Mackie as a fatter version of himself. The image spread as a reaction and exploitable in late 2025, predominantly in TikTok comment sections. Popular variants of the image include the Charlie Kirk Son 😭😭😭😭😭 meme, a Kirkified version of the image, and the so-called "Son Baby" meme, which used the AI Baby Holding Laugh, also known as the Niche Baby, meme.

Origin

On September 8th, 2025, a since-deleted Redditor posted a comment on an /r/gamerecommendations^[1] subreddit post, which used an image macro of actor Anthony Mackie, with edits to his face that made him appear overweight. The caption, written in text overlay from TikTok, read, "Son😭😭😭😭😭." The image likely originates from a TikTok comment. The Redditor's post is currently the first known upload of the image online.

Spread

Also on September 8th, 2025, Redditor sprangel21 commented a low-quality, black-and-white version of the abovementioned image on an /r/GoodAssSub^[2] subreddit post.

That same day, TikToker^[4] @._flyx00 shared a video that used an IShowSpeed GIF from his "Early Stream!" livestream, which he captioned, "Son are we serious 😭😭😭😭😭," as a reaction to someone else's photo slideshow related to rapper Ken Carson. The video received over 52,700 likes in two months. Several commenters on the video wrote, "Son," with long strings of 😭 Emojis.

Heading into September 2025, the Anthony Mackie images spread in Reddit^[3] comment sections.

During the same timeframe, use of "Son 😭😭😭😭😭" as a catchphrase spread in comment sections on TikTok^[4] related to the The Bob meme. A copypasta involving strings of 😭 emojis was used in The Bob comment sections, roughly reading:

the bob😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭I'm crine😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭neph think he no da bob😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭crine😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭bro😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

In the following months, several variations of the original "Son" meme surfaced in TikTok comment sections. Their original creators mostly remain at large due to the obscure nature of TikTok comment sections and a lack of watermarks on the images.

Several of the "Son" memes can be found in the comment section of a video from TikToker^[5] @grungalz, shared on October 13th, 2025, which reposted the MartinSugar2K Intro with "Son😭😭😭😭✌️✌️✌️," written in the text overlay caption. The video received over 45,900 likes in a month.

"Son" memes found in the abovementioned video's comment section include one featuring the Costco Guys (A.J. and Big Justice) and several iterations using an image of Charlie Kirk praying.

In November 2025, a "Son 😭" meme featuring the AI Baby Holding Laugh image surfaced on TikTok, like in the comment section of TikToker^[6] @darizzler199's video, shared on November 17th. A watermark in the bottom-right seemingly says, "Created by dj jyo."

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References