About

Willem Dafoe Drip Check, also known as Willem Dripfoe, refers to a viral video of actor Willem Dafoe showing off his outfit during a man-on-the-street drip or fit check in New York by YouTuber The Unknown Vlogs. The video was uploaded to YouTube in early December 2021 and became the subject of ironic meme edits as an exploitable over the following months on YouTube and TikTok, jokingly hyping up Dafoe's outfit.

Origin

On December 7th, 2021, YouTuber^[1] The Unknown Vlogs uploaded a man-on-the-street style vlog where he roams the streets of New York City and asks people what they're wearing. Around the 09:20 timestamp, actor Willem Dafoe explains piece-by-piece what he's wearing, including FRAME blue jeans, shoes he "picked up in Mexico," a "maybe Prada" sweater and "some sport thing" underneath that (shown below). The video gained over 1.2 million views in a month.

The YouTuber posted an alternate angle of the exchange to Instagram^[2] that day, gaining over 18,500 likes in the same span of time (shown below). The clip was also reposted by Instagram^[3] user filmfilemedia, gaining over 70,000 views in a comparable span of time.

Spread

Later that month in December 2021, the video became the subject of ironic video edits on YouTube, often adding visual effects and music to hype up Dafoe's drip, as well as placing him in humorous contexts. One of the earliest edits on YouTube was posted by TobeyMaquireFan53, titled "Willem Dafoe Drip Check in No Way Home," on December 23rd, 2021, that added music and visuals, as well as a clip of Peter Parker crying before the check as if impressed by the fit, gaining over 50,000 views in three weeks (shown below).

Similar ironic edits also went viral on TikTok around the same time. On the same day, TikToker^[4] @mr_epicguy posted an edit combining footage from the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man film and adding voice-over of Green Gobling talking about "dripping or drowning," gaining over 1.1 million views in three weeks (shown below, left). On December 24th, TikToker^[5] @cosmicspidermansolo.s posted a similarly stylized edit, gaining over 670,000 views in the same span of time (shown below, right).

On December 24th, YouTuber^[6] SPICYMEMES 458 posted a stylized edit of the video, gaining over 680,000 views in three weeks (shown below, left). On December 27th, YouTuber^[7] Pink Boi uploaded a video macro using the clip, gaining over 804,000 views in just over two weeks (shown below, right).

On January 4th, 2022, YouTuber^[8] Pomme de Terre uploaded a compilation of memes using the clip, gaining over 42,000 views in a week (shown below).

On January 8th, YouTuber^[9] Dolan Dark posted an edit of the clip using footage from Spider-Man to make it appear as if Dafoe becomes drippy after being exposed to the green gas, gaining over 103,000 views in five days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References