Lily Mo Sheen Drinks Then Claps Nervously At Awards Show

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About

Lily Mo Sheen Drinks Then Claps Nervously At Awards Show, also known as Girl Awkwardly Clapping, is a reaction GIF of Kate Beckinsale and Michael Sheen's daughter Lily Mo Sheen taking a drink from a wine glass and then quickly putting it down and applauding at an award show after the camera pans to her. Sheen was underage at the time and it is unclear if it was water or alcohol she was drinking, which many speculate is the cause of the nervousness. The GIF was posted online in 2014 and became a prevalent reaction GIF and source of GIF caption memes in the following years, especially on Reddit.

Origin

On February 21st, 2014, Imgur^[1] user TheJayKay posted a GIF of Lily Mo Sheen, the daughter of Kate Beckinsale and Michael Sheen, at what appears to be the 2014 Golden Globe Awards, drinking from a wine glass and then quickly putting the glass down and clapping as the camera switches to her, garnering over 2.4 million views in eight years (shown below). Sheen was 15 at the time, making her under the legal U.S. drinking age, although it is unknown what she was drinking. It is unclear exactly which awards show this clip is from. On August 1st, a now-deleted Redditor posted the GIF to /r/reactiongifs^[2] captioned, "My girlfriend when someone scores a touchdown," garnering over 8,500 upvotes in the same span of time. This is the first known use of the image as a meme.

Spread

The image spread over the following years in image macros and as a reaction, especially on Reddit. On July 2nd, 2015, a Redditor posted the GIF to /r/reactiongifs^[3] captioned, "MRW not having a clue who Victoria is," garnering over 15,400 upvotes in seven years. On February 29th, 2016, Imgur^[4] user DerpstonPDerp posted the GIF captioned, "MRW I didn't watch the Oscars and see all the Leo posts," garnering over 78,000 views in six years. On April 19th, 2017, the GIF was added to an eBaum's World^[5] collection of "17 Reaction Gifs That We Can All Relate To," garnering over 44,000 views in five years.

The GIF became increasingly popularized in 2022. On March 25th, 2022, a Redditor posted an image macro to /r/memes^[6] using the image, garnering over 57,000 upvotes in seven months (shown below).

On October 4th, a Redditor posted a meme about the return of Sam O'Nella to /r/memes,^[7] garnering over 47,000 upvotes in under a day (shown below).