What is I'm Gonna Pretend I Didn't See That?

It's a Reddit image macro pairing a photo of Ray Charles at a piano with the phrase "I'm gonna pretend I didn't see that," played as a joke about the blind musician overlooking uncomfortable facts.

Where did I'm Gonna Pretend I Didn't See That come from?

Redditor LeftyOnenut posted the first version on /r/memes on November 24th, 2018, with a caption tying the killing of a Saudi journalist to cheap U.S. gas prices.

What does I'm Gonna Pretend I Didn't See That mean?

It signals willful ignorance, admitting a contradiction or moral discomfort while choosing to look away.

How do you use I'm Gonna Pretend I Didn't See That?

Add a top caption in the "When X but Y" form describing a hypocrisy or trade-off, then let the Ray Charles photo and phrase deliver the punchline.

Is I'm Gonna Pretend I Didn't See That still popular?

It hit peak virality on Reddit in late November 2018 and is still recognized as a classic reaction image from that era.

I'm Gonna Pretend I Didn't See That

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Published September 1, 2026

The Ray Charles image macro I'm Gonna Pretend I Didn't See That surfaced on Reddit in late November 2018, pairing a piano-side photo of the blind musician with a caption admitting the poster planned to ignore uncomfortable news. The first version tied Saudi Arabia's execution of a journalist to falling U.S. gas prices and became one of Reddit's most-copied reaction templates of that winter.

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Overview

The format uses a black-and-white photograph of Ray Charles seated at a piano with the phrase "I'm gonna pretend I didn't see that" placed underneath and a setup caption above the image1. The joke plays on the fact that Charles was blind, so the punchline turns the musician's inability to see into a visual gag about willful ignorance4.

Setups target hypocrisies, contradictions, and morally uncomfortable trade-offs, letting the poster admit they know better while choosing to look away. Common versions cover political news, religious contradictions, and conspiracy theories, with the Ray Charles photo delivering the fixed punchline in every variation2.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Reddit (viral spread)

Creator

LeftyOnenut

Date

2018

On November 24th, 2018, Reddit user LeftyOnenut posted the image to /r/memes with the top caption "When Saudi Arabia executes a journalist but gas drops below $2 a gallon…"1. The setup nodded to the recent killing of a Saudi journalist and the concurrent slide in U.S. gasoline prices, framing the poster as choosing convenience over outrage4. Within five days the post collected more than 31,000 points at 95% upvoted and 335 comments1.

How It Spread

The next day, November 25th, Redditor EverythingTittysBoil crossposted the picture to /r/dankmemes, planting the template in one of Reddit's largest meme subreddits2. On November 26th, user HamimMostafa applied the format to a joke about the Bible ignoring dinosaurs, pulling in more than 16,000 points at 91% upvoted and 300 comments4.

On November 27th, Archie_B16 posted a flat earth conspiracy version in /r/MemeEconomy, the subreddit where users mock-invest in rising templates. That post cleared 20,000 points at 94% upvoted with 635 comments over three days3. From there the image kept circulating in /r/me_irl and /r/dankmemes as the format was ranked a viable long-term investment3.

How to Use This Meme

Posters typically build a top caption in a "When X but Y" structure, where X is a fact the poster would rather not confront and Y is something small or convenient that makes it easier to look away. The Ray Charles piano image and the phrase "I'm gonna pretend I didn't see that" stay fixed as the punchline4.