I Don't Know Her

Submission 41,965

About

"I Don't Know Her" refers to a comment made popular by recording artist Mariah Carey in regards to singer and actor Jennifer Lopez. The phrase and GIF of Carey saying the line has been used as a reaction when a person refuses to acknowledge and/or disassociate themselves with a specific something, person, or idea. This is largely considered as an insulting way of diminishing another's importance.

Origin

On July 9th, 2001, Mariah Carey appeared on the German tabloid television show Taff. During her interview, one of the hosts asked Carey for her thoughts on contemporaries, including Beyoncé, for whom Carey had flattering words. However, when asked about Jennifer Lopez, Mariah responded, "I don't know her."

On January 19th, 2008, a clip of the interview was uploaded to YouTube. Within 12 years, the video has received more than 725,000 views (shown below).

On July 27th, 2010, LiveJournal ^[1] user eightball responded to a post by Gingerslam2 with the GIF. It is one of the earliest known uses of the meme.

Spread

On November 30th, 2012, Tumblr ^[2] user @fiercegifs posted the GIF. Within nine years, the post received more than 400 notes (shown below, left).

Around early-to-mid-2016, Carey's 'I don't know her' interview started circulating on Stan Twitter, where people would use the phrase as a reaction to express disapproval of certain celebrities of their actions (examples below, center and right).

On March 8th, 2016, TMZ caught up with Carey. When they had asked her what she thinks of her interview going viral years later. Carey responded, "I still don't know her."

The TMZ footage had caused a social media revival of "I don't know her." The prevalence of Carey's catchphrase on social media was covered by multiple entertainment outlets such as Buzzfeed^[5], Vanity Fair^[3], Billboard ^[4], and the Guardian^[6].

On July 5th, 2016, Urban Dictionary ^[7] user Gabrielle williams defined "I don't know her" as "A shady way of saying someone didn't exist in your world in your life and you don't like them. They are basically irrelevant."

On December 18th, 2016, Mariah Carey had made an appearance on the Bravo talk show Watch What Happens Live (video below, left). When host Andy Cohen asked about Demi Lovato, Carey inserted her infamous catchphrase and said, "I don't know her either."

Carey's appearance went viral, prompting the hashtag #IDontKnowHerEither (example below, right).