What is Barbara Corcoran's "And For That Reason, I'm Out"?

It is a Shark Tank catchphrase Barbara Corcoran uses to pass on an investment, often attached to an absurd or unrelated reason, which turned into a reaction meme and GIF format.

Where did Barbara Corcoran's "And For That Reason, I'm Out" come from?

The line comes from ABC's Shark Tank, which premiered on August 9th, 2009, and a 2013 YouTube compilation by Ohad Gavrieli helped surface the "I'm out" bit to a wider audience.

What does Barbara Corcoran's "And For That Reason, I'm Out" mean?

On the show it signals she is passing on a deal, but as a meme it is used to reject something for a trivial or nonsensical reason, often one that works against the poster's own interest.

How do you use Barbara Corcoran's "And For That Reason, I'm Out"?

A common format is an image macro or GIF of Corcoran with a caption giving a petty reason for walking away from a good situation, as in JohnJohnsonJohn's June 2018 Imgflip template.

Is Barbara Corcoran's "And For That Reason, I'm Out" still popular?

The catchphrase stayed in circulation through the 2010s and into the 2020s on TikTok, where Shark Tank's official account and users like @pnwdad206 kept posting clips of her rejections.

Barbara Corcoran's "And For That Reason, I'm Out"

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Published November 13, 2026

Shark Tank investor Barbara Corcoran turned a routine rejection line into a running joke by attaching absurd personal reasons to her investment refusals, like disliking shrimp or a pitcher's shirt color. Viewers began compiling her exits as early as 2013, and by 2018 Imgflip users were building image macros around the catchphrase2 3.

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Overview

On ABC's Shark Tank, every investor has a way of bowing out of a pitch, but Barbara Corcoran's exits stood out because the reasoning rarely matched the business in front of her. She would tie her rejection to something petty or unrelated, say a dislike of shrimp or a bad feeling about an entrepreneur's hometown, then cap it with the line "and for that reason, I'm out"1. That mismatch between weighty investment decision and trivial justification is the engine of the joke.

Online, the clip works as a reaction template. Posters pair a screengrab or GIF of Corcoran with a caption that lists a nonsense reason for walking away from something obviously good, flipping the gag so she is rejecting her own self-interest3. The tone is deadpan rather than mean, since Corcoran delivers the line flatly on the show, which lets the caption carry the absurdity.

By the late 2010s the catchphrase was widespread enough on Imgflip and reaction-image feeds that Corcoran herself leaned in, making her own videos about the bit4.

Origin & Background

Platform

ABC Shark Tank (TV) / YouTube (viral spread)

Creator

Barbara Corcoran

Date

2009

Shark Tank first aired on ABC on August 9th, 2009, with a rotating panel of investors hearing pitches from entrepreneurs1. Sharks who passed on a deal would announce it with a short declaration, and Corcoran's version, "and for that reason, I'm out," showed up often enough that viewers began cataloging it. A March 24th, 2013 YouTube compilation by Ohad Gavrieli collecting various "I'm out" rejections from across the cast drew over 123,000 views and helped establish the running gag as a recognizable show tic2.

Corcoran's individual spin got its own compilation on October 23rd, 2017, when the YouTube channel UnSheepify posted a supercut of her exits, pulling together moments where her stated reasons for backing out had little to do with the pitch itself5. The video's comments filled with viewers inventing their own fake Corcoran rejections, which is roughly the shape the meme took on other platforms.

How It Spread

After the 2017 UnSheepify cut circulated, the format moved to image macros. On June 4th, 2018, Imgflip user JohnJohnsonJohn posted a Corcoran macro with a caption saying the deal made perfect financial sense and she was still out, which locked in the joke's core move of having her reject her own best interest3. Similar captions spread on Imgflip's generator pages through the late 2010s.

TikTok became the next home for the bit. Clips from Shark Tank's official account pulling Corcoran rejections6, along with user edits like a 2022 remix by @pnwdad2067 and a 2023 cut from @abymsx8, kept the catchphrase circulating alongside newer Shark Tank audiences. @uncutcontent also ran edits of Corcoran's exits with added commentary9.

Corcoran gave the meme an official nod on December 1st, 2021, posting a TikTok that overlaid her real past rejection reasons onto the Water, Earth, Fire, Air intro from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a direct wink at the running joke about her exit logic4. The post picked up around 3,500 likes.

Timeline

2009-08-09

Shark Tank premieres on ABC, introducing the "I'm out" rejection format across the investor panel.

2013-03-24

YouTuber Ohad Gavrieli uploads a compilation of Sharks saying "I'm out," which racks up over 123,000 views.

2017-10-23

UnSheepify posts a Barbara Corcoran specific exit supercut on YouTube, sparking viewer parodies in the comments.

2018-06-04

Imgflip user JohnJohnsonJohn uploads a Corcoran image macro where she rejects a clearly profitable deal, codifying the self-sabotage joke.

2021-12-01

Corcoran posts her own TikTok using the Avatar: The Last Airbender intro to list real past exit reasons.