AboutWhat does the meme depict?

The Meryl Streep Singing meme consists of captioned images that feature an imagined singing exchange between Meryl Streep and popular musicians. Each meme uses a specific still image of the acclaimed American actress Meryl Streep, captured as she shouts or cheers during a moment at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards in 2015. The captions are creatively edited to make it appear as though Streep is singing well-known lyrics from various songs, providing a humorous duet between her and the original artists.

OriginWho did it first?

The meme originated from a post on Twitter (now X) by user @SayItAintDash on March 17th, 2017. In this tweet, Streep was depicted singing a line from Missy Elliot's 2002 hit 'Work It'. The line, exclaimed by Meryl in a faux-musical exchange, was 'I put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it', which is famously backmasked in the song. The image accompanying the tweet shows Streep enthusiastically cheering on Debbie Reynolds, who was walking onstage to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 SAG Awards.^[1]

Origin: 2017