Negus Spelling Bee Video — Young blonde boy at a microphone during a spelling bee with the word 'negus' displayed on screen

Negus Spelling Bee Video

2007viral videoclassic

Published November 14, 2026

Negus Spelling Bee Video captures 12-year-old Andrew Lay at the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee being asked to spell the Ethiopian word 'negus,' which the judges pronounced in a way that sounded uncomfortably close to a racial slur. His long, nervous pause and careful repetition of the word made the clip go viral after afromood uploaded it to YouTube on June 2nd, 20073. By 2010, Daniel Tosh had featured it on Tosh.0, and edits swapping judge audio with Kendrick Lamar lyrics kept the clip alive into the 2020s1.

youtube viral race and identity memes child virality memes cringe memes late 2000s memes

Overview

Negus Spelling Bee Video is a roughly two-minute clip of a visibly nervous sixth-grader stalling for time while a panel of adult spelling bee judges repeat a word that, out loud, sounds very close to a racial slur. The humor comes from Andrew Lay's facial expressions, his several requests for the judges to say the word again, and the increasingly awkward exchange about language of origin and usage before he finally spells it correctly1.

The clip has lived on through reuploads, Daniel Tosh's reaction on Tosh.0, and short-form edits that splice the audio with rap lyrics. A recurring format swaps the judges' lines for clips of Kendrick Lamar saying 'negus' from his 2014 track 'i,' or drops the video into Let's Go and Who Was In Paris? audio edits56. The appeal is mostly a single joke, the mismatch between a tense, formal competition and a word that sounds like something no adult on television should be repeating at a 12-year-old1.

Origin & Background

Platform
2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee (TV broadcast) / YouTube (viral spread)
Creator
Andrew Lay; afromood
Date
2007

The spelling moment aired on May 31st, 2007, during the semi-finals of the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, where 12-year-old Andrew Lay from Gaston County, North Carolina correctly spelled 'negus,' an Ethiopian title for a monarch, after asking the judges for the definition and language of origin. The judge's definition, 'the negus ruled Ethiopia until the coup of 1974,' and the panel's repeated pronunciation drew audible laughs from the room1.

Two days later, on June 2nd, 2007, YouTube channel afromood posted the clip as '2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee Surprise'3. The description noted that the judges mispronounced the word from the start, which made Lay's hesitation understandable. That upload later passed 10 million views1. Lay, who was a sixth-grader when it aired, gave a retrospective interview to the Gaston Gazette in 2017 at age 224.

How It Spread

Reuploads piled up quickly. On July 17th, 2008, YouTuber la4hi0rocks reposted a longer cut that eventually passed 30 million views9. On January 26th, 2012, user mebefatboy uploaded a copy with corrected audio sync that crossed a million views1.

Comedy Central's Tosh.0 featured the clip in a 2010 'Is It Racist?' segment, which pushed it back into circulation with a new audience1. On April 1st, 2015, YouTuber Dwight Galang posted an edited version that replaced the judges' answers with Kendrick Lamar samples, including the 'negus' line from 'i,' which reached over 937,000 views1.

The short-form edit wave arrived later. On December 28th, 2020, Negative Memes posted a Let's Go edit that passed 290,000 views5. On February 13th, 2021, GOOSEPEE uploaded a Who Was In Paris? edit built around the clip, and that version reached 3.6 million views within six months6. Lay himself discussed the video's afterlife with the Gaston Gazette in a 2017 feature4.

Timeline

2008-07-17

YouTuber la4hi0rocks reposts a longer version that later passes 30 million views.

2010

Daniel Tosh features the clip on Tosh.0 in an 'Is It Racist?' segment.

2012-01-26

User mebefatboy uploads a version with corrected audio sync.

2015-04-01

Dwight Galang posts an edit swapping judge audio with Kendrick Lamar clips, including the 'negus' line from 'i.'

2017-06-01

The Gaston Gazette publishes an interview with Lay, then 22, about the viral clip.

2020-12-28

Negative Memes posts a Let's Go edit using the clip.

2021-02-13

GOOSEPEE uploads a Who Was In Paris? edit that reaches 3.6 million views in six months.

How to Use This Meme

Edits typically cut to the exact beat when the judge says 'negus' or when Lay repeats it back, then layer in a rap vocal or punchline audio. A common convention is to sync the video to a hip-hop track that also uses the word, such as Kendrick Lamar's 'i,' so the kid appears to be reacting to the song. Other edits treat the original clip as a straight reaction video and let the awkward pause play out.

Frequently Asked Questions