# Jamal Did It Who Stole X Jamal Did It, also known as Who Stole X, is a TikTok photo slideshow trend from April 2022 where users pose a hypothetical crime and cycle through emoji or photo suspects before landing on a Black boy named Jamal as the framed culprit. The format drew heavy criticism for leaning on racial stereotypes and later spawned a fake death hoax in late 2022. ## Overview Jamal Did It, sometimes called Jamal Is Innocent or Who Stole X, is a TikTok slideshow format where a creator poses a crime, cycles through a handful of suspects rendered as emojis or photos, and lands on a Black boy named Jamal as the framed culprit[1]. The bit is almost always set to Mississippi Fred McDowell's blues track "You Gotta Move," which functions as the audio signature for the format[1]. Most slideshows use a stock photo of actor Abraham Clinkscales as young Jamal, which became the go-to face of the joke by late 2022[1]. Critics on TikTok argued the trend was straightforwardly racist because the punchline relies on Black identifiability rather than any actual setup[2]. ## How It Spread The format picked up quickly. On April 13th, 2022, TikToker corey.bennett_ filmed a live-action KFC version that pulled in roughly 1.7 million plays and 124,200 likes over six months[1]. Virality spiked again on September 9th, 2022, when TikToker gerborg posted a "Who stole the picture?" iteration that reached about 17.3 million plays and 2.4 million likes in a month[1]. The trend also went political. On October 1st, 2022, TikToker yunuss16x2 posted a slideshow asking who destroyed the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, listing Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden and German-Swiss filmmaker Mike Forster before landing on Jamal[1]. Slideshows aimed at other ethnicities appeared too, including a version from zuzanna.k07 on October 21st, 2022, blaming a Polish man named Stanisław Krzysztof Wojciechowski for stolen pierogi[1]. A doriannftjamal slideshow on October 17th, 2022, tying Jamal to Jeffrey Dahmer riffing on Netflix's Dahmer docu-series, hit roughly 10.4 million plays in a week and locked in the specific stock photo that became the default Jamal[1]. Backlash arrived the same month. TikToker lesbiandis4ster [10] posted an October 24th, 2022 video calling the trend racist and unfunny[1]. Days later, on October 26th, 2022, max_but_2 [11] posted a fake "Breaking News" graphic reading "Jamal Shot Dead In Houston," which kicked off a Jamal death hoax that griddy_mastermind [12] pushed further on November 10th, 2022, with a Patrick Bateman crying clip that pulled in about 4.1 million plays[1]. ## How to Use A typical Jamal Did It post is a TikTok photo slideshow set to Mississippi Fred McDowell's "You Gotta Move"[1]. Creators usually pose a question in the caption like "who stole the X," then cycle through three or four suspect images, whether emojis or real photos, before ending on Jamal, most often the Abraham Clinkscales stock photo[1]. The caption often tags the final slide with "suspicious" or "#jamal" to signal the punchline. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Jamal Did It Who Stole X? It is a TikTok photo slideshow trend that started in April 2022 where creators pose a hypothetical crime, run through several suspects, and end on a Black boy named Jamal as the framed culprit, all set to "You Gotta Move" by Mississippi Fred McDowell[1]. ### Where did Jamal Did It Who Stole X come from? The earliest known versions were posted on April 2nd, 2022 by TikTokers rodolfo.lopez1034 and chopp.2k, with chopp.2k's "Who ate all the chicken?" video introducing the Jamal punchline[1]. ### What does Jamal Did It Who Stole X mean? The joke frames a Black character named Jamal for a crime he obviously did not commit, and was widely criticized for leaning on racial stereotypes as its entire punchline[1][2]. ### How do you use Jamal Did It Who Stole X? Post a TikTok slideshow asking "who stole the X," cycle through emoji or photo suspects, then end on a Jamal image (commonly a stock photo of actor Abraham Clinkscales) with "You Gotta Move" playing over it[1]. ### Is Jamal Did It Who Stole X still popular? Peak activity was late 2022, when a fake "Jamal Shot Dead In Houston" death hoax spread on TikTok before pushback and racism criticism cooled the format[1]. ## References 1. [https://www.tiktok.com/@rodolfo.lopez1034]() 2. [https://www.tiktok.com/@lesbiandis4ster/video/7158017253009673478]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/jamal-did-it-who-stole-x]() 4. [https://www.tiktok.com/@chopp.2k]() 5. [https://www.tiktok.com/@gerborg]() 6. [https://www.tiktok.com/@doriannftjamal]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/jamal-did-it-who-stole-x Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library