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Memes

The origin of the ‘just hanging around’ sound on TikTok

Beetlejuice is no stranger to being a meme.

Photo of Audra Schroeder

Audra Schroeder

Beetlejuice speaking in front of tan walls and door

The Beetlejuice Just Hanging Around meme refers to a viral clip of Howard Stern personality Beetlejuice being asked “What are you doing? and him replying “Nothing… Me? Just hanging around.”

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If you’ve ever walked into a room and forgot why, the TikTok meme will resonate.

Beetlejuice speaking in front of tan walls and door
Know Your Meme/YouTube

Beetlejuice (real name Lester Green) is perhaps best known for being part of the Wack Pack, Stern’s chorus of side characters, starting in the late ’90s. He’s also been a meme. But he’s been introduced to a new audience on TikTok.

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The clip started going viral in early April, along with the greenscreen format, and has been applied to a range of incidents where people are caught doing something they shouldn’t be or caught doing something other than the thing they should be doing.

@nfs_closet Cmon pookie why you lookong for me 🤧 #work #target #walmart ♬ original sound – Koosh604
@daltonator7 Worlds best life hack!! #jokes #whatareyoudoing #beetlejuice #funny #selfcheckout #walmart #justhangingaround #meme #beetle ♬ original sound – Koosh604

The meme is so widespread, that there are now meta TikToks about it.

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@nihilustic #beetlejuice #beetlejuicetiktok #relatable #memes #memestiktok #memetok #trendincoming #sus #justhangingaround ♬ original sound – Lordofmemes

The Beetlejuice Just Hanging Around video is originally from December 2021 and was posted to Instagram by Beetlejuice’s manager, Robert Rooney. That post is now deleted, but shortly after, the clip was posted to TikTok, captioned, “Beetle explains why he went off the grid.”

@beetandsean Part 1/2 #beetlejuice #beetlejuicetiktok #beetandsean #beetle #funny #beet #foryou ♬ original sound – beetandsean

The video features Beetlejuice talking about why he has been absent from the boxing world, but it wasn’t long before TikTok gave it a different context. In December 2021, user Regan Curtis posted it with the caption, “When you get caught doing something you shouldn’t be..,” and the comments are full of people coming “full circle” to the original in April 2023.

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Beetlejuice appeared on The Howard Stern Show in December 2021, saying that he was sober and had gotten into crypto.

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