He Was The Best Guy Around

About

He Was The Best Guy Around is a catchphrase and audio sample from an interview done after the 1992 John Gotti trial, during which it was said by an interviewee that Gotti "was the best guy around" despite what was known about him and his crimes. The audio sample went viral on TikTok in the spring of 2023 as people began to use it to showcase their cats and injuries sustained from them, as well as movie characters they like who have killed people.

Origin

On April 2nd, 1992, after John Gotti was found guilty in court, ABC 7 Eyewitness News interviewed people as part of ongoing coverage of the case. This footage was then uploaded to YouTube on October 9th, 2019, by the official Eyewitness News channel^[1] with the iconic footage coming from a pair of New Yorkers who denied any wrongdoing by Gotti (shown below).

On March 31st, 2023, that part of the coverage including the quote was then uploaded to TikTok by the user @Madrandombro,^[2] which turned it into an audio page for others to use in their videos. The original clip was later deleted as the channel renamed itself to Just Jenna Show, with an archive link showing the original upload as the main source (shown below, reupload by officialsaarah).

Spread

On March 26, 2023, the audio format was then used by TikToker @ihurtkozzi^[3] in a similar way to the original intent by advocating for the release and honor of someone who was found guilty of something. The on-video caption, however, shows that while they're vocally advocating for someone, in actuality they don't want that person near them at all. The post accumulated over 115,000 likes in two months (shown below).

On May 5th, 2023, TikToker @Raymond^[4] took the audio format in a new direction by having it be about his cats, helping to start the trend of using the audio format to mean cats who are vicious but still cute looking, earning over 155,000 likes in one month (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References