Divorce Selfie

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About

Divorce Selfies are self-taken photographs featuring formerly married couples posing together after filing for divorce. In late 2010s, a viral divorce selfie posted in May 2017 became a popular reference for redraws.

Origin

On April 21st, 2014, Instagram^[4] user emilyrose920 posted a photograph of herself with her former husband in front of a painting of a bald eagle with the caption "'Can we take a divorce selfie?'" (shown below). The image received over 40 likes and is one of the earliest divorce selfies posted on social media.

Spread

On August 21st, 2014, Florida resident Keith Hinson posted a selfie photograph with his former wife Michelle Knight taken immediately after signing divorce papers at a courthouse to Instagram^[1] (shown below, left). On August 12th, 2015, Instagram user stormyseastudio^[3] posted a photograph of herself standing next to a man with the caption "#divorceselfie ha ha… This is how you stay friends thru the drama" (shown below, right).

On September 1st, 2015, Calgary, Canada resident Shannon Neuman posted a photograph on Facebook^[2] of herself posing with former husband Chris Neuman outside an Alberta courthouse. The post explained that they were amicably separating and was accompanied by the hashtag "#divorceselfie" (shown below). Within 24 hours, the photo gathered upwards of 33,200 shares.

In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the divorce selfie photography trend, including BuzzFeed,^[5] The Daily Mail,^[6] ABC News,^[7] Inside Edition^[8] and The Huffington Post.^[9]

Divorce Selfie Redraws

On May 12th, 2017, an unknown Redditor posted a photograph of a man and a woman finalizing their divorce. The man, who takes the selfie, is smiling and giving the camera a thumbs-up, while the woman behind them looks at the camera with an expression of unhappiness. The post received over 2,100 upvotes in /r/pics^[10] prior to being removed (shown below).

On the same day, Imgur^[11] user Noerdy reposted the image, with the photograph gaining over 14,500 upvotes and 560,000 views in four years. Another same-day repost by an unknown Redditor in /r/photoshopbattles^[12] gained over 10,900 upvotes before being removed. The image saw continuous spread in the following years, including reposts on Reddit^[13] and Facebook.^[14] On May 23rd, 2020, Twitter^[15] gimmick account dedicated to the photograph posted the image, with the post gaining over 90,700 retweets and 740,900 likes in one year.

Starting in late 2018, the photograph gained popularity as source material for redraws. On December 27th, Tumblr^[16] user evilpepsiman posted the earliest found redraw based on the image (shown below). The post accumulated over 5,500 likes and reblogs in three years.

Between 2019 and 2021, multiple viral redraws using the photograph as references were posted on social media, primarily on Tumblr and Twitter. For example, on August 18th, Instagram^[17] user pranbow posted a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure version of the meme (post no longer available; shown below, left). A Reddit^[18] repost of the image gained over 6,800 upvotes in /r/ShitPostCrusaders. On May 20th, 2021, Twitter^[19] user @RMaywz posted a Genshin Impact meme that gained over 160 retweets and 1,100 likes in five months (shown below, right).