The famous “clenched fist” meme taken from the animated TV series “Arthur” has turned 25, and the well-known image has two big celebrities to thank for its popularity.
The meme began as a moment in a Season 4 episode of the PBS children’s show. The episode, “Arthur’s Big Hit,” aired in the US on Oct. 4, 1999, and focused on teaching kids why they shouldn’t try to solve their problems with violence.
In one part of the show, Arthur gets frustrated with his younger sister, D.W., after she drops a model plane that he made out of a window, mistakenly believing it would fly. After it gets damaged, she blames him, saying he should have built it better.
Meanwhile, Arthur is stewing, remembering all the times he told his sister not to touch the plane. He then clenches his fist and hits her.
The image of Arthur’s clenched fist began to gain traction online in 2016. In February 2017, one person on Twitter (now X) posted a side-by-side of Arthur and singer John Legend, 45, writing, “John Legend look like Arthur lowkey.”
Just a couple of days later, Legend’s wife, Chrissy Teigen, 38, weighed in. “John when you tell him he looks like Arthur,” the model tweeted alongside the “Arthur” clenched fist meme. Teigen’s post has since been deleted.
Legend didn’t get the reference. “I hadn’t even heard of this Arthur character til now,” the crooner replied to Teigen’s tweet. “Was he around when I was a kid?”
That moment propelled the meme to new heights of virality and cemented Teigen and Legend’s connection to Arthur and his clenched fists.
In April 2018, the couple starred in a Google Duo commercial where Legend tries on a few different outfits and asks for Teigen’s fashion advice over a video call. After receiving the thumbs down from the model on ensemble after ensemble, Legend finally lands on a white button-up shirt and yellow sweater – in other words, Arthur’s signature look.
“Arthur!” Teigen squealed in the video after seeing Legend. “Who’s Arthur?” Legend replied.
The Grammy winner even recreated the clenched fist meme in particular.
From there, the couple kept the gag going. In June 2018, Teigen posted a photo on Instagram of their daughter Luna holding an Arthur stuffed animal. “Luna and daddy,” she captioned the snap.
Writing in the comments, the model continued, “This is my childhood Arthur doll. My mom has kept it all this time. Maybe I’ve been attracted to Arthur my whole life and now I found my real life human one.”
Legend commented, “Wow.”
The “Ordinary People” singer then posted his own photo of Luna and Arthur (along with her grandpa), writing, “Luna and Grandpa (and a stuffed animal whose name we shall not speak).”
Months later, Legend appeared on “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” and was asked about Arthur. “One day I’m gonna cover that theme song,” he quipped. “[Chrissy] is always trolling me. She’s my number one troll on Twitter.”
The animated TV series that launched a million memes aired its final episode in February 2022. Based on the books by Marc Brown, “Arthur” premiered on Oct. 10, 1996, and ran for 25 seasons, making it the longest-running animated children’s show in the US.
Brown spoke about how the show was able to thrive for so many years during an interview with People in 2019. “When we began Arthur 22 years ago, the agenda we began with was to make children want to read,” he said. “And it worked!”
“So each year, the writers and the producers sit down to decide what kind of subject matter we want to deal with. After 22 years you think, ‘We’ve done it all!’ Yet, here was another opportunity!” the author continued. “It still excites me that we can come up with stories that are going to be interesting and helpful to children.”
