Ervil LeBaron

About

Ervil LeBaron was the cult leader of a Mormon fundamentalist sect who ordered the killings of his rivals from 1974 until his death in 1981. In early 2024, he was the subject of a documentary on Hulu. Later that year in March, he then became a common name soundalike for LeBron James amid numerous irony edits and memes of the basketball star on TikTok set to the song "You Are My Sunshine" (including the LeBonBon / LeEvil James memes), with people joking "Ervil LeBaron" sounded like "Evil LeBron."

Origin

Ervil LeBaron led the Church of the First Born of the Lamb of God in San Diego, California starting in 1972.^[1] He was tried and convicted of murdering his brother, a leader of a rival Mormon sect, that year but had the conviction overturned. During his time as leader of the church, he ordered the killings of rival leaders and some of his own following. His followers and wives often carried out these murders for him. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1980 and died in 1981. However, his followers still carried out killings of people on his "hit list" after his death.

In January 2024, Hulu notably released a documentary series on LeBaron called Daughters of the Cult.^[2]

On March 16th, 2024, the TikTok account @jbisnotontiktok1^[7] posted a name soundalike meme with "Ervil LeBaron," indicating it sounded like "Evil LeBron," gaining over 87,000 likes in 10 days (shown below).

Spread

On March 21st, 2024, the Twitter account @Namesoun^[3] reposted the name soundalike meme, gaining over 5,500 retweets and 64,000 likes in five days (shown below).

The post coincided with a TikTok trend of ironic Lebron James edits, such as "LeBonBon" and "Leevil James." Once the name soundalike was identified, the phrase "Ervil LeBaron" began seeing increased use in "Leevil James" edits on TikTok.

For example, on March 24th, 2024, TikToker @emperor.kuzco8^[4] posted an Evil Lebron edit with the name that gained over 1.1 million views in two days (shown below, left). The following day, TikTok user @Makayonit^[5] posted a parody documentary about an "evil LeBron" named "Ervil LeBaron," gaining over 16,000 likes in one day (shown below, right).

On March 24th, TikToker hoopinghighlights1^[6] posted an edit with "Ervil LeBaron," gaining over 73,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References