Apology Form

About

Apology Form refers to an exploitable meme template intended to celebrate the return to greatness of an athlete or celebrity by forcing said person's critics to apologize for doubting them. The meme was initially popularized among NBA fans in 2019 and 2020 before shifting to the Super Smash Brothers community in the following years, where it largely went viral through variations concerning the Smash player Tweek.

Origin

On November 28th, 2019, the Twitter account ctrilthenarrative^[1] posted an apology form for then-Portland Trailblazer player and former NBA all-star Carmelo Anthony. The form has several sections for which people could "apologize," including "The media convinced me he was done," "Mercury was in retrograde" and "I will hereby respect Carmelo Anthony and will NOT talk down on the future first ballot hall-of-famer." The post gained over 620 retweets and 1,100 likes in three and a half years.

Spread

Over the following several years, the apology form was recreated with multiple NBA players and athletes from other sports, particularly those who recently performed well despite being considered past their prime by some. On February 12th, 2021, Redditor TheHomieKhan posted an example to /r/NewYorkKnicks^[2] featuring Derrick Rose, gaining over 330 points in two years (shown below, left). On September 13th, 2020, Redditor TalkQwerty posted to /r/Lakers^[3] an example featuring Lakers head coach Frank Vogel, gaining over 200 points in two and a half years (shown below, right).

Tweek Apology Form

On November 14th, 2022, Twitter user @SyndicateSnivy^[4] posted a variation featuring Super Smash Brothers player Tweek after he won Port Priority 7. The tweet gained over 180 retweets and 2,200 likes in six months (shown below).

That night, several Twitter users filled out the form,^[5] and it continually reappeared when Tweek performed well at future tournaments. The tweet appears to have made the meme popular in Smash and video game culture. On February 8th, 2023, Twitter user @Nairsitto^[6] posted a variation featuring Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles, gaining over 810 retweets and 3,300 likes in three months (shown below, left). On January 30th, Redditor remnanter posted to /r/CoDCompetitive^[7] an example featuring Call of Duty player Dashy, gaining over 580 points in three months (shown below, right).

On March 26th, 2023, Beyond the Summit posted a skit featuring members of the Super Smash Brothers community centered on the Tweek Apology Form meme, gaining over 50,000 views in one month (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References