Sad Keanu

"Sad Keanu" is a photoshop meme based on a paparazzi photograph of Canadian-American actor Keanu Reeves sitting alone on a park bench while eating a sandwich, appearing contemplative and somber. The photograph was taken sometime in May 2010 by Splash News photographer Ron Asadorian in New York City (Know Your Meme, 2010).

The transformation from paparazzi photo to internet phenomenon began on obscure message boards before exploding into mainstream meme culture. The earliest known "Sad Keanu" photoshop thread appeared on Green-ovale.net, a 4chan-like archive, on the /tv/ (television & films) board, dating to May 23, 2010. Another thread subsequently appeared on 4chan imageboard's /a/ (anime) board on June 1, 2010 (Know Your Meme, 2010).

The meme gained widespread traction when Reddit user rockon4life posted the image on June 3, 2010, with the phrase "I really enjoy acting…Because when I act, I'm no longer me" in a thread entitled "Keanu. More sadness in comments." The thread quickly reached Reddit's front page, gathering over 281,000 page views (Know Your Meme, 2010). This marked the beginning of viral spread across multiple platforms.

On June 4, 2010, sympathy for Keanu spread virally across Reddit, resulting in the creation of multiple derivative threads such as "Instead of Chuck Norris, let's make Keanu Reeves a meme," "Keanu Reeves is Hungry," and "Oh Keanu" (Know Your Meme, 2010). The phenomenon quickly caught the attention of mainstream media outlets, with Urlesque posting an article titled "Sad Keanu: The Latest Image Macro" on June 7, 2010, followed by BuzzFeed's "10 Best Sad Keanu Images" on June 8, 2010.

Throughout June 2010, photoshopped images of Sad Keanu spread across various social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter, and personal blogs on Tumblr. The meme was repeatedly featured on Tumblr Radar, driving up the number of derivatives exponentially (Know Your Meme, 2010). Dedicated platforms emerged, including the Sad Keanu Tumblr launched on June 10 and the single-topic blog SadKeanu.com launched on June 14.

The meme's popularity prompted an unprecedented fan response known as "Cheer Up Keanu Day," organized for June 15, 2010. The Facebook event encouraged people to send love letters, gifts, phone messages, or donations to make a special day for the actor, attracting over 14,000 supporters (Know Your Meme, 2010). The event received coverage from major news outlets including Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, and E! (Know Your Meme, 2010).

However, the meme's commercial peak was short-lived due to copyright enforcement. On June 17, 2010, SadKeanu.com received a DMCA takedown notice from Splash News, which owned the copyright to the original photograph. This led to the removal of over 270 posts and the eventual closure of the dedicated website, though derivative works using silhouettes and original renderings continued (Know Your Meme, 2010).

Years later, Keanu Reeves addressed the meme directly on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in December 2021, explaining that he wasn't actually sad in the photograph: "I'm just eating a sandwich, man! I was thinking. I had some stuff going on. I was hungry" (PopCrush, 2021). The actor expressed amusement at the meme's cultural impact and its unexpected inclusion in his comic book BRZRKR.

"Sad Keanu" remains one of the most recognizable celebrity-based memes, representing an early example of how candid paparazzi photography could be transformed into widespread internet culture. Its success spawned numerous derivatives including "Happy Keanu" and inspired similar celebrity memes, establishing a template for reaction-based image manipulation that continues to influence meme culture today.