The “Ladies and gentlemen, we got him” meme references diplomat Paul Bremer’s announcement during a press conference on December 14, 2003, that U.S. forces had captured former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Hussein was found hiding in a small underground bunker, often referred to as a “spider hole,” near the town of Ad-Dawr. The American military found him on December 13, 2003, during “Operation Red Dawn.” Bremer, who was the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq at the time, to the cameras at 8:30 pm Iraq time the next day and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we got him!”
Not much from the U.S. invasion of Iraq has aged well, but Bremer’s quote has taken on a life of its own outside the historical moment. When asked about it 15 years later, he admitted he didn’t get it.
“I’m not a meme guy,” he told The Daily Beast. “So I was watching them with great curiosity … Many times I couldn’t figure out what the connection was with the announcement. How are the words fitting into the memes?”
He added, “If you can explain to me how these things go viral on the internet, I’d be pleased to be educated.”
What does “ladies and gentlemen we got him” mean when used as a meme?
The phrase became more popular after it started getting attached to other events. As the Guardian reports, it was being shared as a comment in response to online moments where someone gets owned or looks like a jackass, often set to the 2010 song “Baby I’m Yours” by French musician Breakbot.
Though the meme’s phrase has been around for decades, it didn’t really get popular as an online joke until 2018 when a YouTuber used the Bremer clip to comment on the Justin Bieber song “Despacito,” specifically the news that it was deleted after being watched religiously by hardcore Beliebers.
Another popular video mix combines the phrase with talking head Jordan Peterson‘s inability to name a single female author.
It is still used with political moments, though those often become incomprehensible afterward, especially when it references elections from 2018 in the U.K. However, this tweet shares an important component of the meme that eventually got added in—a clip of a SWAT team busting into someone’s house. The person has been gotten so hard that their door was taken off the hinges by federal agents!
The political side of the meme faded as it merged with jokes that would be at home in a prank call to Moe’s Bar on The Simpsons. The clip and phrase started to be paired with practical jokes around the term “ligma,” a fake disease that would hopefully prompt someone to ask, “What is ligma?“
The response would be: “Ligma balls.” Got ’em!
In one famous use of the meme, YouTuber Dolan Darker shared a video called “PEWDIEPIE GOT LIGMA” in which PewDiePie asks what the term Sugondese means; say it aloud to yourself and you’ll get it.
Why is the meme funny?
Bremer is not fondly remembered in the history books nor is the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Deez nutz jokes are. Combining his announcement, which now seems absurd, with something even more stupid is a winning combo.
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