Christopher Moltisanti Explains — Christopher Moltisanti in sunglasses holding a cigarette at a diner table in The Sopranos

Christopher Moltisanti Explains

2019image macrosemi-active

Published October 20, 2026

Christopher Moltisanti Explains is a Sopranos meme in which Michael Imperioli's character defines internet slang, crypto trends and other modern terminology to Tony Soprano, usually opening with "It's called an X, T," or "It's called X, Tone." The format grew out of the earlier Ay, Tone Paulie Gualtieri image macro and hit viral traction in April 2021 after the gimmick account @MoltisantiThots posted a Christopher-explains-NFTs tweet that collected roughly 90,900 likes2.

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Overview

A typical post pairs a screencap of Christopher, often mid-cigarette or sitting at a bar, with a caption where he patiently walks Tony through something he would plausibly never encounter in the show's 2000s setting2. Topics range across NFTs, the Lindy Effect, underground rap releases and online sex slang, and the comedy depends on the mismatch between the character's streetwise voice and the subject matter.

Variants moved beyond static images into TikTok lip-syncs, where creators impersonate Christopher's accent while reciting the explanation. The "It's called an X, T" opener is the recurring hook, and copycats folded in Paulie, Silvio and other Sopranos regulars as additional explainers2. The source scene for the broader Ay, Tone family of edits comes from the 68th episode of The Sopranos, "Mayhem," which first aired March 26, 20061.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (gimmick account spread)
Creator
@MoltisantiThots
Date
2019

Christopher Moltisanti Explains began as a twist on Ay, Tone, a 2018 Sopranos image macro of Paulie Gualtieri in a red tracksuit raising his hand, taken from the "Mayhem" episode1. Twitter user @mockfountain posted the first known Ay, Tone edit on February 18, 2018, placing Paulie in a Twin Peaks scene, and the tweet sat at six likes for years2.

The explainer setup arrived on June 14, 2019, when @Sonny5ideUp posted a version where Paulie explains CBD to Tony, picking up roughly 4,400 likes and setting the template that the gimmick account @MoltisantiThots would later adopt for Christopher in 20212.

How It Spread

The gimmick Twitter account @MoltisantiThots posted its first tweet on April 14, 2021, moving the premise from Paulie to Christopher and racking up over 770 likes2. On April 23, 2021, the account posted a Christopher-explains-NFTs edit that collected roughly 90,900 likes and inspired direct copycats2. User @internetkendra followed on April 24 with a Lindy Effect version that drew around 1,300 likes.

The format reached Instagram on November 1, 2021, when the page quadrant posted a version where Christopher explains gay sex to Tony, earning roughly 2,200 likes2. TikTok adopted it next: @jake_molloy filmed a live-action impression of the MoltisantiThots NFT tweet on April 28, 2021, picking up around 18,800 plays, and @benjimanz posted a version on May 27, 2022, in which Christopher explains how he fumbled a Bladee vinyl release to Tony, earning roughly 63,200 plays2.

@MoltisantiThots itself went quiet after April 2021, but the explainer format spread anyway, with other Sopranos characters absorbed into the same joke structure across Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

Timeline

2006-03-26

The Sopranos airs episode 68, "Mayhem," the source of the Paulie Gualtieri screencap later used in Ay, Tone edits.

2018-02-18

@mockfountain posts the first known Ay, Tone edit, placing Paulie in a Twin Peaks scene.

2019-06-14

@Sonny5ideUp posts the first explainer version, with Paulie defining CBD to Tony.

2021-04-14

@MoltisantiThots posts its first tweet, moving the explainer format onto Christopher.

2021-04-23

The @MoltisantiThots Christopher-explains-NFTs tweet goes viral with roughly 90,900 likes.

2021-04-28

TikToker @jake_molloy posts a live-action impression of the NFT tweet.

2021-11-01

Instagram page quadrant posts a Christopher-explains-gay-sex version.

2022-05-27

TikToker @benjimanz posts a version where Christopher explains a fumbled Bladee vinyl release.

How to Use This Meme

To make one, grab a screencap of Christopher Moltisanti looking exasperated or mid-sentence, then write a caption where he defines a current slang term, piece of discourse or online subculture to Tony. The caption typically opens with "It's called an X, T," or "It's called X, Tone," and the humor lands when the explained concept feels maximally alien to a 2000s New Jersey mobster.

Frequently Asked Questions