Forbidden Pairs

About

Forbidden Pairs refers to the visual comparison of celebrities, fictional characters and memes that label two or more people as a "forbidden pair" meaning that they look identical but the correlation is rather taboo (i.e. "forbidden"). The meme was inspired by a viral discussion sparked by a viral 2021 tweet sent by Twitter user @meItingbytwice. The tweet led to viral quote retweets that were screenshotted and posted elsewhere on social media, resurfacing en masse in April 2023.

Origin

On January 17th, 2021, Twitter^[1] user @meItingbytwice tweeted, "do y’all have 'forbidden' pairs you think look alike but also know NO one else is gonna agree?" earning roughly 26,600 likes in two years (shown below).

Also over the course of two years, Twitter^[1] user @meItingbytwice's tweet gained roughly 54,800 quote retweets. These started on March 25th, 2021, when Twitter^[2] users within K-pop circles started to post QRTs. The first viral QRT to gain over 1,000 likes was uploaded on March 27th, 2021, by Twitter^[3] user @aroundtzu who compared Sally Carrera from Cars to Korean pop singer Seulgi, gaining roughly 30,000 likes in two years (shown below).

Spread

After Twitter^[3] user @aroundtzu's QRT, various, viral replies surfaced beneath @meItingbytwice's tweet^[1] in March 2021. For instance, on March 29th, 2021, Twitter^[4] user @slut4bubbletea compared Martha Stewart and rapper Future in a reply that gained roughly 46,400 likes in two years (shown below, left). On March 31st, 2021, Twitter^[5] user @becca_oneal compared Chance the Rapper and Jackie Kennedy, gaining roughly 35,200 likes in two years (shown below, right).

April 2023 Resurgence

On April 4th, 2023, Twitter^[6] user @breenixx quote retweeted @meItingbytwice's 2021 tweet^[1] with a photo of Kandi Burruss and a photo of Reba McEntire, gaining roughly 73,600 likes in two weeks (shown below, left). The viral QRT inspired a resurgence of "Forbidden Pairs" memes going into April 2023. For instance, on April 5th, Twiter^[7] user @zEJAYz compared Will Smith and the Laughing Cow cheese mascot in a QRT that gained roughly 35,900 likes in 13 days (shown below, right).

Screenshots of the QRTs were reposted to other platforms in April 2023. For instance, on April 12th, 2023, @zEJAYz's tweet^[7] was reposted by Instagram ^[8] user @princephilipscorpse, gaining roughly 12,600 likes in six days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References