# Celebrities Complaining About Quarantine > Celebrities Complaining About Quarantine is a 2020 image-macro meme contrasting wealthy celebrities' emotional COVID-19 lockdown complaints with images of their luxury mansions, mocking the privilege disconnect. **Celebrities Complaining About Quarantine** is a meme trend from March 2020 where internet users mocked wealthy celebrities for posting emotional breakdowns and complaints about COVID-19 lockdowns from their multi-million-dollar homes. The most common format paired a caption like "Celebrities:" or "Their house:" with images of mansions or luxury estates, though the concept spread through reaction images, object labeling memes, and exploitable templates across Reddit and Twitter[2]. ## Origin The trend kicked off in mid-March 2020 as lockdown orders spread across multiple countries[2]. Several celebrities drew attention for their tone-deaf posts. Singer Sam Smith shared photos of an emotional "quarantine meltdown." Ellen DeGeneres caught backlash for joking that quarantine was "like being in jail" while filming from her sprawling estate. Kelly Ripa got emotional during video interviews about the difficulties of staying home[1]. On March 20, 2020, Twitter user @CFCbezz posted a reply to Sam Smith's meltdown photos that became one of the earliest viral examples. The tweet pulled in over 320,000 likes and nearly 60,000 retweets, with other users piling on in the replies with their own captions mocking the situation[2]. - **Platform:** Twitter (early viral tweets), Reddit (meme format spread) - **Creator:** @CFCbezz (earliest known viral tweet), community-created format - **Date:** 2020 ## Overview During the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments worldwide issued shelter-in-place orders forcing people to stay home. While ordinary people dealt with cramped apartments, job losses, and genuine hardship, a number of high-profile celebrities took to social media to share their quarantine experiences. Some posted tearful videos, others joked about their situation, and many inadvertently showed off enormous homes with pools, home theaters, and manicured gardens in the background[2]. Internet users quickly noticed the disconnect. The meme format typically placed a label like "Celebrities:" above the fold, followed by "Their home:" with a reaction image showing an absurdly lavish mansion or palace. Variations used existing templates like SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs, or The Office to deliver the same punchline: rich people complaining about being stuck in paradise[2]. ## How It Spread The meme exploded across platforms over the following days. On March 21, 2020, Redditor throwmeawaypop posted a meme to r/DunderMifflin referencing the celebrity quarantine complaints, earning roughly 32,000 upvotes and 448 comments[2]. March 22 was the biggest single day for the trend. Redditor TheDingus12 uploaded an image of Mr. Krabs pressing F on the world's smallest keyboard to r/dankmemes with the title "Just Get Over It," picking up over 30,000 upvotes[2]. On Twitter the same day, user Dave Eternal posted a variant featuring Ellen DeGeneres and Arnold Schwarzenegger from their actual quarantine posts, getting nearly 1,000 retweets and 3,800 likes[2]. Also on March 22, Redditor Pielef posted a SpongeBob Sees Flying Dutchman version to r/memes that blew up to nearly 100,000 upvotes and 842 comments[2]. By March 24, the "Their Houses:" format had crystallized as a standalone template. Redditor RoyalRien posted a version to r/dankmemes that hit almost 80,000 upvotes and 800 comments[2]. ## How to Use The format is straightforward and flexible: 1. **The caption setup:** Start with "Celebrities:" or "Celebrities in quarantine be like:" as a header or top text. 2. **The punchline image:** Pair it with an image of a mansion, palace, or ridiculously luxurious home. Alternatively, use an existing reaction template (SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs, expanding brain, etc.) that conveys either sympathy mockery or disbelief. 3. **The "Their Houses" variant:** Caption an image with "Celebrities: We're all in this together" on top, then "Their houses:" below with a photo of a sprawling estate. ## Cultural Impact Comedian Ricky Gervais gave the sentiment its most high-profile amplification in an interview with The Sun. "I see someone complaining about being in a mansion with a swimming pool. And, you know, honestly, I just don't want to hear it," he said[1]. Gervais contrasted celebrity whining with healthcare workers doing 14-hour shifts while risking their health and their families' safety, calling out the disconnect directly[1]. The backlash against celebrity quarantine content became a broader conversation about wealth inequality during the pandemic. Ellen DeGeneres's "jail" comparison and the viral "Imagine" video (where multiple celebrities sang John Lennon's song from their mansions) became lightning rods for criticism, feeding directly into the meme trend[1]. Fox News covered the phenomenon, reporting on multiple celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres, Sam Smith, and Kelly Ripa who received public backlash for their quarantine complaints[1]. ## Fun Facts - The @CFCbezz tweet replying to Sam Smith's quarantine meltdown photos was one of the first viral instances, pulling 320,000 likes in a format that was essentially just a caption and a mansion photo[2]. - Ricky Gervais referenced his own working-class upbringing when criticizing celebrity complaints, noting his father worked on construction sites until age 70 and that he himself "had no money growing up" until he was 40[1]. - The meme trend burned hot but brief, concentrated almost entirely within a single week of March 2020 as lockdowns first rolled out globally[2]. - The r/memes SpongeBob version hit nearly 100,000 upvotes, making it one of the most popular individual posts in the trend[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Celebrities Complaining About Quarantine? It's a meme trend from March 2020 that mocked wealthy celebrities for posting emotional or tone-deaf content about being stuck at home during COVID-19 lockdowns, typically by pairing captions about celebrities with images of mansions[2]. ### Where did the Celebrities Complaining About Quarantine meme come from? The trend started on Twitter in mid-March 2020. One of the earliest viral examples was a March 20, 2020 tweet by @CFCbezz replying to Sam Smith's quarantine meltdown photos, which got over 320,000 likes[2]. ### What does the Celebrities Complaining About Quarantine meme mean? The meme highlights the absurdity of wealthy celebrities complaining about quarantine while living in multi-million-dollar homes with pools and home theaters, contrasting their experience with that of ordinary people[1]. ### How do you use the Celebrities Complaining About Quarantine meme? The most common format pairs a caption like "Celebrities:" or "Their house:" with an image of a lavish mansion or uses existing reaction templates (SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs, etc.) to mock celebrity complaints about lockdown[2]. ### Is Celebrities Complaining About Quarantine still popular? No. The trend was specific to early COVID-19 lockdowns in March 2020 and faded quickly as the pandemic progressed and public attention shifted to other concerns[2]. ### Which celebrities were most targeted by the meme? Sam Smith, Ellen DeGeneres, Kelly Ripa, and Arnold Schwarzenegger were among the most frequently referenced. Sam Smith's "quarantine meltdown" photos and Ellen's "jail" comparison were particular flashpoints[1][2]. ### What did Ricky Gervais say about celebrities complaining? Gervais told The Sun that he didn't want to hear celebrities "complaining about being in a mansion with a swimming pool" while healthcare workers were doing 14-hour shifts and risking their lives[1]. ### What was the most popular version of the meme? A SpongeBob Sees Flying Dutchman variant posted to r/memes on March 22, 2020 by Redditor Pielef hit nearly 100,000 upvotes, making it one of the highest-performing individual posts[2]. ### What platforms did the meme spread on? The meme was most active on Twitter and Reddit, particularly on subreddits like r/dankmemes, r/memes, and r/DunderMifflin during the last two weeks of March 2020[2]. ## References 1. [Ricky Gervais Expresses Thoughts About Celebrities Complaining About Quarantine - Breaking News Alerts]() 2. [Celebrities Complaining About Quarantine - Know Your Meme]() 3. [Controversial Reddit communities]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/celebrities-complaining-about-quarantine Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library