Bathroom Shrines

2018Participatory trend / physical memesemi-active

Also known as: Restroom Shrines

Bathroom Shrines is a 2018 trend of improvised devotional shrines to celebrities hidden in school bathrooms, sparked when SUNY Purchase student Phillip Hosang's Danny DeVito shrine went viral on Twitter.

Bathroom Shrines is a trend of building improvised devotional shrines to celebrities and fictional characters inside public restroom spaces, typically at schools and colleges. The practice started in late 2018 when SUNY Purchase College student Phillip Hosang hid a small Danny DeVito shrine inside a secret room accessible through a bathroom wall, and the discovery went massively viral on Twitter. The trend spawned waves of copycat shrines dedicated to figures like Harry Styles, Hatsune Miku, and Jon Quiñones across school bathrooms on TikTok through 2021.

campus memesdanny devito memesabsurdist humor memesphysical memestwitter memes

Overview

Bathroom Shrines are makeshift memorials set up in public restrooms, usually at schools or colleges, dedicated to a celebrity, fictional character, or internet figure. They typically feature printed photos or small cutouts of the subject, handwritten notes inviting visitors to "leave an offering," and piles of random items left behind as tributes. The humor comes from the absurd contrast between sacred shrine imagery and a grimy bathroom setting, plus the communal aspect of strangers adding to the pile over time. The shrines often feel like discovering a weird little secret, hidden inside tampon dispensers, behind loose wall panels, or in forgotten utility closets.

The original Bathroom Shrine was built by Phillip Hosang, a 19-year-old sophomore at SUNY Purchase College in New York. Hosang had heard rumors about a hidden room connected to a men's bathroom in the visual arts building. When he tracked it down in late September 2018, he found a graffiti-covered space littered with paper towels1. The mess gave him an idea. "Because of all the trash, if you know Always Sunny, you know that Danny DeVito is known as like the trash man. I was like, 'This is just the perfect person to go with,'" Hosang told Vice1.

He bought a miniature cardboard cutout of DeVito on Amazon, hung a poster of Frank Reynolds on the wall, and placed a handwritten note reading "Leave an offering for our lord and savior Danny DeVito, patron saint of trash men"1. Students who stumbled onto the shrine actually started leaving offerings: empty bottles, candy wrappers, Juul pods, condoms, cigarette butts, and handwritten notes to DeVito1.

The shrine first surfaced online on October 9, 2018, when Twitter user @terreeslavie posted a photo and invited Danny DeVito to visit campus. The tweet picked up over 320 retweets and 2,000 likes3. On November 11, user @pisslorde posted a video showing friends climbing through the bathroom wall hole into the shrine room, getting over 6,900 retweets and 16,900 likes4.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (viral spread), SUNY Purchase College (physical origin)
Key People
Phillip Hosang, @terreeslavie, @slackerdook
Date
2018

The original Bathroom Shrine was built by Phillip Hosang, a 19-year-old sophomore at SUNY Purchase College in New York. Hosang had heard rumors about a hidden room connected to a men's bathroom in the visual arts building. When he tracked it down in late September 2018, he found a graffiti-covered space littered with paper towels. The mess gave him an idea. "Because of all the trash, if you know Always Sunny, you know that Danny DeVito is known as like the trash man. I was like, 'This is just the perfect person to go with,'" Hosang told Vice.

He bought a miniature cardboard cutout of DeVito on Amazon, hung a poster of Frank Reynolds on the wall, and placed a handwritten note reading "Leave an offering for our lord and savior Danny DeVito, patron saint of trash men". Students who stumbled onto the shrine actually started leaving offerings: empty bottles, candy wrappers, Juul pods, condoms, cigarette butts, and handwritten notes to DeVito.

The shrine first surfaced online on October 9, 2018, when Twitter user @terreeslavie posted a photo and invited Danny DeVito to visit campus. The tweet picked up over 320 retweets and 2,000 likes. On November 11, user @pisslorde posted a video showing friends climbing through the bathroom wall hole into the shrine room, getting over 6,900 retweets and 16,900 likes.

How It Spread

The shrine exploded on November 13, 2018, when Twitter user @slackerdook posted four photographs that racked up over 141,000 retweets and 483,000 likes. Media outlets including BuzzFeed News and Vice ran stories within days. The SUNY Purchase official account responded with a tweet acknowledging their students' creativity and inviting DeVito to campus.

On November 16, Danny DeVito himself weighed in with a tweet that became almost as iconic as the shrine: "Your shrine honors me. My heart is filled with love and garbage. Tomorrow, as you may know, is my name day. Do something that makes you feel good. Above all be kind to each other. Pick up trash, recycle, and be aware of plastics in the ocean". The response collected over 80,900 retweets and 266,500 likes.

The viral attention backfired. SUNY Purchase found the room and sealed it off "for safety reasons," a move that angered students who blamed social media exposure. "Fuck everyone who exposed the dungeon/danny devito shrine," one student tweeted. "Now it's sealed. Why post things on the internet WHEN YOU CAN JUST EXPERIENCE THEM". The school held onto the shrine materials and planned to work with Hosang to reinstall it somewhere more accessible on campus.

The Danny DeVito shrine kicked off a wider trend. On November 25, 2019, TikTok user ladollyvit4 posted a video of a shrine hidden in a broken tampon machine, earning over 331,600 likes. On December 4, 2019, TikTok user tnoneya shared a shrine dedicated to "What Would You Do?" host Jon Quiñones, which pulled in over 669,100 likes.

The trend hit its biggest wave in May 2021 when multiple viral TikToks of school bathroom shrines surfaced. A Harry Styles shrine video by TikTok user vampsoxks on May 12 got over 523,000 likes. Another surge followed in October 2021, sparked by a Hatsune Miku bathroom shrine posted by TikTok user fizzy_apple_juice and Twitter user @WEBBYMCGEE on October 10. Those posts pulled 206,800 TikTok views and 70,200 Twitter likes in a single week. A Megamind shrine appeared on October 26, posted by Twitter user @livdeadgrll.

How to Use This Meme

Making a Bathroom Shrine typically involves a few steps:

1

Find your spot. The best shrines are hidden or at least semi-concealed. Broken dispensers, utility closets, and out-of-the-way bathroom corners all work. Part of the appeal is the discovery factor.

2

Pick your subject. The person or character should be someone people feel weirdly devoted to. Danny DeVito, Harry Styles, and Hatsune Miku all fit the "ironic worship" vibe. The more absurd the choice for a bathroom setting, the better.

3

Set up the shrine. A printed photo or small cutout is the centerpiece. Add a handwritten note inviting offerings. Some creators add candles (usually fake) or decorative elements.

4

Let it grow. The communal aspect is key. Other people discovering the shrine and adding their own offerings, notes, and tributes is what makes it a living meme rather than just a prank.

5

Document and share. The reveal video, usually someone opening a dispenser or crawling through a wall to find the shrine, is the shareable moment. TikTok and Twitter are the standard platforms.

Cultural Impact

The original Danny DeVito shrine generated coverage from BuzzFeed News, Vice, and other outlets within days of going viral. DeVito's wholesome response, telling students to be kind and pick up trash, became widely shared in its own right and added to his reputation as one of the internet's most beloved celebrities.

The trend also raised questions about what happens when secret campus culture meets social media. Multiple SUNY Purchase students expressed genuine frustration that sharing the shrine online led to its removal. The tension between "experience it in person" and "post it for clout" became part of the conversation around the shrine's legacy.

SUNY Purchase's administration handled the situation with unusual grace, praising student creativity rather than treating it as vandalism, and committing to help relocate the shrine. This made the story feel more wholesome than the typical "school shuts down student prank" narrative.

Fun Facts

Hosang said he bought the tiny Danny DeVito cardboard cutout on Amazon, and once it arrived, "it was happening. I couldn't go back".

Students left an eclectic range of offerings at the original shrine including Juul pods, tampons, condoms, and rolls of tape.

When asked about potentially meeting DeVito, Hosang said "That would be the highlight of my life. It's only downhill from there".

The school spokesperson told Vice they planned to work with Hosang to reinstall the shrine in a more accessible campus location.

DeVito's response tweet was posted on November 16, which he called "my name day," referring to the Feast Day of St. Danny.

Derivatives & Variations

Harry Styles Bathroom Shrine

— A TikTok from May 2021 showed a shrine dedicated to Harry Styles in a school bathroom, getting over 523,000 likes[4].

Jon Quiñones Shrine

— A shrine to the "What Would You Do?" host hidden in a bathroom, posted December 2019 with over 669,100 TikTok likes[4].

Hatsune Miku Shrine

— Posted October 2021, this bathroom shrine to the virtual singer went viral across both TikTok and Twitter[4].

Megamind Shrine

— A school bathroom shrine to the DreamWorks character, posted October 2021[4].

Tampon Machine Shrine

— A shrine hidden inside a broken tampon dispenser, one of the earliest DeVito-inspired copycats from November 2019[4].

Frequently Asked Questions

Bathroom Shrines

2018Participatory trend / physical memesemi-active

Also known as: Restroom Shrines

Bathroom Shrines is a 2018 trend of improvised devotional shrines to celebrities hidden in school bathrooms, sparked when SUNY Purchase student Phillip Hosang's Danny DeVito shrine went viral on Twitter.

Bathroom Shrines is a trend of building improvised devotional shrines to celebrities and fictional characters inside public restroom spaces, typically at schools and colleges. The practice started in late 2018 when SUNY Purchase College student Phillip Hosang hid a small Danny DeVito shrine inside a secret room accessible through a bathroom wall, and the discovery went massively viral on Twitter. The trend spawned waves of copycat shrines dedicated to figures like Harry Styles, Hatsune Miku, and Jon Quiñones across school bathrooms on TikTok through 2021.

campus memes danny devito memes absurdist humor memes physical memes twitter memes

Overview

Bathroom Shrines are makeshift memorials set up in public restrooms, usually at schools or colleges, dedicated to a celebrity, fictional character, or internet figure. They typically feature printed photos or small cutouts of the subject, handwritten notes inviting visitors to "leave an offering," and piles of random items left behind as tributes. The humor comes from the absurd contrast between sacred shrine imagery and a grimy bathroom setting, plus the communal aspect of strangers adding to the pile over time. The shrines often feel like discovering a weird little secret, hidden inside tampon dispensers, behind loose wall panels, or in forgotten utility closets.

The original Bathroom Shrine was built by Phillip Hosang, a 19-year-old sophomore at SUNY Purchase College in New York. Hosang had heard rumors about a hidden room connected to a men's bathroom in the visual arts building. When he tracked it down in late September 2018, he found a graffiti-covered space littered with paper towels. The mess gave him an idea. "Because of all the trash, if you know Always Sunny, you know that Danny DeVito is known as like the trash man. I was like, 'This is just the perfect person to go with,'" Hosang told Vice.

He bought a miniature cardboard cutout of DeVito on Amazon, hung a poster of Frank Reynolds on the wall, and placed a handwritten note reading "Leave an offering for our lord and savior Danny DeVito, patron saint of trash men". Students who stumbled onto the shrine actually started leaving offerings: empty bottles, candy wrappers, Juul pods, condoms, cigarette butts, and handwritten notes to DeVito.

The shrine first surfaced online on October 9, 2018, when Twitter user @terreeslavie posted a photo and invited Danny DeVito to visit campus. The tweet picked up over 320 retweets and 2,000 likes. On November 11, user @pisslorde posted a video showing friends climbing through the bathroom wall hole into the shrine room, getting over 6,900 retweets and 16,900 likes.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (viral spread), SUNY Purchase College (physical origin)
Key People
Phillip Hosang, @terreeslavie, @slackerdook
Date
2018

The original Bathroom Shrine was built by Phillip Hosang, a 19-year-old sophomore at SUNY Purchase College in New York. Hosang had heard rumors about a hidden room connected to a men's bathroom in the visual arts building. When he tracked it down in late September 2018, he found a graffiti-covered space littered with paper towels. The mess gave him an idea. "Because of all the trash, if you know Always Sunny, you know that Danny DeVito is known as like the trash man. I was like, 'This is just the perfect person to go with,'" Hosang told Vice.

He bought a miniature cardboard cutout of DeVito on Amazon, hung a poster of Frank Reynolds on the wall, and placed a handwritten note reading "Leave an offering for our lord and savior Danny DeVito, patron saint of trash men". Students who stumbled onto the shrine actually started leaving offerings: empty bottles, candy wrappers, Juul pods, condoms, cigarette butts, and handwritten notes to DeVito.

The shrine first surfaced online on October 9, 2018, when Twitter user @terreeslavie posted a photo and invited Danny DeVito to visit campus. The tweet picked up over 320 retweets and 2,000 likes. On November 11, user @pisslorde posted a video showing friends climbing through the bathroom wall hole into the shrine room, getting over 6,900 retweets and 16,900 likes.

How It Spread

The shrine exploded on November 13, 2018, when Twitter user @slackerdook posted four photographs that racked up over 141,000 retweets and 483,000 likes. Media outlets including BuzzFeed News and Vice ran stories within days. The SUNY Purchase official account responded with a tweet acknowledging their students' creativity and inviting DeVito to campus.

On November 16, Danny DeVito himself weighed in with a tweet that became almost as iconic as the shrine: "Your shrine honors me. My heart is filled with love and garbage. Tomorrow, as you may know, is my name day. Do something that makes you feel good. Above all be kind to each other. Pick up trash, recycle, and be aware of plastics in the ocean". The response collected over 80,900 retweets and 266,500 likes.

The viral attention backfired. SUNY Purchase found the room and sealed it off "for safety reasons," a move that angered students who blamed social media exposure. "Fuck everyone who exposed the dungeon/danny devito shrine," one student tweeted. "Now it's sealed. Why post things on the internet WHEN YOU CAN JUST EXPERIENCE THEM". The school held onto the shrine materials and planned to work with Hosang to reinstall it somewhere more accessible on campus.

The Danny DeVito shrine kicked off a wider trend. On November 25, 2019, TikTok user ladollyvit4 posted a video of a shrine hidden in a broken tampon machine, earning over 331,600 likes. On December 4, 2019, TikTok user tnoneya shared a shrine dedicated to "What Would You Do?" host Jon Quiñones, which pulled in over 669,100 likes.

The trend hit its biggest wave in May 2021 when multiple viral TikToks of school bathroom shrines surfaced. A Harry Styles shrine video by TikTok user vampsoxks on May 12 got over 523,000 likes. Another surge followed in October 2021, sparked by a Hatsune Miku bathroom shrine posted by TikTok user fizzy_apple_juice and Twitter user @WEBBYMCGEE on October 10. Those posts pulled 206,800 TikTok views and 70,200 Twitter likes in a single week. A Megamind shrine appeared on October 26, posted by Twitter user @livdeadgrll.

How to Use This Meme

Making a Bathroom Shrine typically involves a few steps:

1

Find your spot. The best shrines are hidden or at least semi-concealed. Broken dispensers, utility closets, and out-of-the-way bathroom corners all work. Part of the appeal is the discovery factor.

2

Pick your subject. The person or character should be someone people feel weirdly devoted to. Danny DeVito, Harry Styles, and Hatsune Miku all fit the "ironic worship" vibe. The more absurd the choice for a bathroom setting, the better.

3

Set up the shrine. A printed photo or small cutout is the centerpiece. Add a handwritten note inviting offerings. Some creators add candles (usually fake) or decorative elements.

4

Let it grow. The communal aspect is key. Other people discovering the shrine and adding their own offerings, notes, and tributes is what makes it a living meme rather than just a prank.

5

Document and share. The reveal video, usually someone opening a dispenser or crawling through a wall to find the shrine, is the shareable moment. TikTok and Twitter are the standard platforms.

Cultural Impact

The original Danny DeVito shrine generated coverage from BuzzFeed News, Vice, and other outlets within days of going viral. DeVito's wholesome response, telling students to be kind and pick up trash, became widely shared in its own right and added to his reputation as one of the internet's most beloved celebrities.

The trend also raised questions about what happens when secret campus culture meets social media. Multiple SUNY Purchase students expressed genuine frustration that sharing the shrine online led to its removal. The tension between "experience it in person" and "post it for clout" became part of the conversation around the shrine's legacy.

SUNY Purchase's administration handled the situation with unusual grace, praising student creativity rather than treating it as vandalism, and committing to help relocate the shrine. This made the story feel more wholesome than the typical "school shuts down student prank" narrative.

Fun Facts

Hosang said he bought the tiny Danny DeVito cardboard cutout on Amazon, and once it arrived, "it was happening. I couldn't go back".

Students left an eclectic range of offerings at the original shrine including Juul pods, tampons, condoms, and rolls of tape.

When asked about potentially meeting DeVito, Hosang said "That would be the highlight of my life. It's only downhill from there".

The school spokesperson told Vice they planned to work with Hosang to reinstall the shrine in a more accessible campus location.

DeVito's response tweet was posted on November 16, which he called "my name day," referring to the Feast Day of St. Danny.

Derivatives & Variations

Harry Styles Bathroom Shrine

— A TikTok from May 2021 showed a shrine dedicated to Harry Styles in a school bathroom, getting over 523,000 likes[4].

Jon Quiñones Shrine

— A shrine to the "What Would You Do?" host hidden in a bathroom, posted December 2019 with over 669,100 TikTok likes[4].

Hatsune Miku Shrine

— Posted October 2021, this bathroom shrine to the virtual singer went viral across both TikTok and Twitter[4].

Megamind Shrine

— A school bathroom shrine to the DreamWorks character, posted October 2021[4].

Tampon Machine Shrine

— A shrine hidden inside a broken tampon dispenser, one of the earliest DeVito-inspired copycats from November 2019[4].

Frequently Asked Questions