The Day You Almost Caught Captain Jack Sparrow

About

The Day You Almost Caught Captain Jack Sparrow is a quote from a Pirates of the Caribbean scene where Johnny Depp's character Captain Jack Sparrow is holding Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) at gunpoint and saying, "You will always remember this as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow." The image macro and catchphrase became a meme en masse following the Amber Heard vs. Johnny Depp defamation lawsuit verdict announcement in early June 2022.

Origin

On July 9th, 2003, the first movie of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean series, The Curse of the Black Pearl, was released in theaters.^[1] In the film, there's a scene in which Johnny Depp's character Captian Jack Sparrow has Keira Knightley's character Elizabeth Swann held against him like a hostage at gunpoint. He tells the British soldiers trying to arrest him, "You will always remember this as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow" before fleeing (shown below).

Spread

Use of the quote appeared in memes in early 2020 following the initial trial between Heard and Depp in London. On February 1st, 2020, Twitter^[2] user sabinem_mufc posted a GIF of Jack Sparrow and used the quote to reference Depp's not guilty verdict in the case, earning roughly 1,500 likes in two years (shown below).

Amber Heard, this is the day that you will always remember as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow !! #JusticeForJohnnyDepp pic.twitter.com/kFz5h86Mid

— Baba Yaga (@sabinem_mufc) February 2, 2020

On October 20th, 2020, Twitter^[3] user MillerStream used the quote in a tweet that earned over 370 likes in two years (shown below, left). On February 26th, 2021, Twitter^[4] user NTGAndrew used the quote in a reply that earned roughly 6,700 likes in one year (shown below, right).

Going into 2022, the quote received more usage related to the Amber Heard vs. Johnny Depp trial. For instance, on April 22nd, Twitter^[5] user jessicawon57 posted a tweet using the phrase that earned roughly 25,300 likes in a month and a half (shown below, left). On April 27th, Twitter^[6] user JackPosobiec used the phrase in a tweet that earned roughly 11,100 likes in the same amount of time (shown below, right).

On June 1st, 2022, the verdict of the trial was announced, revealing that Heard had lost the case. Many memes and tweets emerged across platforms using the phrase, earning mass engagement. For instance, on June 1st, Twitter^[7] user cartertheepic tweeted, "Amber Heard will always remember this as the day she almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow," gaining roughly 926,000 likes in one day (shown below, left). Also on June 1st, 2022, Redditor posted a meme to /r/Memes ^[8] that earned roughly 7,700 upvotes in one day (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References