Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That

The "Ain't Nobody Got Time for That" meme originated from one of the most memorable local news interviews in internet history, transforming an Oklahoma City resident's dramatic fire escape testimony into a cultural phenomenon that would define viral video humor for years to come.

On the morning of April 7, 2012, a three-alarm fire broke out at an Oklahoma City apartment complex, leaving one person hospitalized and displacing over a hundred residents (Know Your Meme, 2012). Among those evacuated was Kimberly Wilkins, known by the pseudonym "Sweet Brown," who would soon become an internet sensation through her emphatic interview with KFOR News Channel 4.

The interview originally aired on April 8, 2012, on Oklahoma City NBC affiliate KFOR-TV (Wikipedia, 2025). In describing her harrowing escape, Wilkins provided a vivid, dramatic recounting: she explained that she "got bronchitis" and that the smoke was affecting her breathing, then concluded with the phrase that would become iconic: "Ain't nobody got time for that!" Her colorful narrative included other memorable lines such as "Lord Jesus, it's a fire!" and her description of running out "with no shoes or nothing."

The clip was first uploaded to YouTube by KFOR employee Ted Malave on the same day as the broadcast. However, another version uploaded by YouTuber lucasmarr on April 9th became the most widely shared, gaining over 1 million views and over 109,000 Facebook shares within 48 hours (Know Your Meme, 2012). The video was subsequently featured on Tosh.0 on April 10th and eBaum's World the following day.

The meme's rapid spread was facilitated by news sites including Hypervocal, Long Island Press, and WCSH Portland, as well as culture sites Hip Hop Wired, Gawker, and BuzzFeed, all of which reported on the video between April 10th and 11th (Know Your Meme, 2012). On April 12th, NBC conducted a follow-up interview with Sweet Brown and her son, who were reportedly shocked by the amount of YouTube views her original news clip had received.

The cultural impact extended far beyond simple viral video status. Sweet Brown's catchphrase became a widely-used expression online, applicable to countless situations where someone wanted to express impatience or dismiss unnecessary complications. The phrase was incorporated into countless memes, remixes, and autotune versions, with the autotune remix alone garnering 70 million views (Nicki Swift, 2024).

Sweet Brown's unexpected fame led to television appearances, including visits to Comedy Central's Tosh.0 and ABC's The View. She appeared in Tyler Perry's 2013 movie "A Madea Christmas," saying part of her famous line during an interview scene (Wikipedia, 2025). In 2014, Jimmy Kimmel Live created a parody featuring Queen Latifah as Sweet Brown in a movie trailer-style sketch.

The meme also sparked important cultural discussions about the appropriation of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and the tendency to ridicule Black women's speech patterns. Scholar Carmen Kynard noted that many who used the meme failed to understand its deeper cultural significance and the genuine trauma Sweet Brown experienced during the fire (Education, Liberation & Black Radical Traditions, 2017).