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Memes

The origins of the ‘John Silver Explaining Anna Jay’ meme

“Anakin explaining to Padma why he hates sand”

Photo of Angela Andaloro

Angela Andaloro

man talking to woman while she looks uncomfortable

Bro explaining Anna Jay, also known as the John Silver explaining Anna Jay meme, features wrestler John Silver passionately explaining something to singer Anna Jay, who appears uncomfortable and uninterested.

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The wrestlers are part of a funny addition to the larger realm of bros explaining memes. The interaction between the wrestlers has reached viral status online as many find it relatable, from one perspective or the other.

Origins of the John Silver Explaining Anna Jay meme

The moment between John Silver and Anna Jay was part of a 2021 episode of Being The Elite. The YouTube series, the entertainment arm of The Elite professional wrestling, shows their talent interacting in humorous skits.

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In the sketch, Silver is drunk and babbles from one subject to another. He becomes increasingly loud, handsy, and sloppy as he goes. Jay briefly provides a sympathetic ear before her eyes start bulging out of her head. Her facial expressions betray how uncomfortable and weird she finds the situation to be. It escalates until she hits her breaking point and tries to escape the conversation.

John Silver and Anna Jay
@BeingTheElite/YouTube
John Silver and Anna Jay
@BeingTheElite/YouTube
John Silver and Anna Jay
@BeingTheElite/YouTube
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In February 2022, X’s @good_faces_bot posted a still from the scene, in which Anna Jay appears stunned by what she hears Silver yell into her ear.

John Silver Anna Jay meme origin
@good_faces_bot/X

This isn’t the first time John Silver has been caught ‘bro-splaining’ to Anna Jay

John Silver was the star of a lesser version of this meme earlier in 2021. It also came during a conversation between Silver and Anna Jay in another episode.

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Anna Jay and John Silver
@BeingTheElite/YouTube

Soon after the episode, memes about the uncomfortable conversation between the two began to pop up across wrestling corners of X.

The meme also started to bubble up again in May 2024, when the two wrestlers recreated the moment at a wedding.

john silver and anna jay 2024
@BeingTheElite/YouTube
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The original Bro Explaining meme

Many will recognize the original Bro Explaining meme, which pairs captions with a photograph of a man in an Astros t-shirt speaking to a visibly bored blonde woman in a sports arena, his hand grasping the back of her neck.

The photo, taken during a baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros on June 7, 2011, has come to definitively represent the idea of “mansplaining” in meme form.

bro explaining
@ORVBells/X
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‘Bro Explaining Anna Jay’ meme examples

In Body Image
@ORVBells/X
In Body Image
u/Bennetto/Reddit
john silver explaining meme that says 'anakin explaining why he hates sand' with anna jay as padme
u/Bennetto/Reddit
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john silver anna jay meme that reads 'So it’s called an NFT and it means that the monkey is actually mine'
@tradermayne/X
john silver anna jay meme that reads 'babe it's this new video game and it's only $60, i'll pay you back when i get a job'
@tradermayne/X
john silver anna jay 'wwe fans trying to tell me about ratings and ticket sales'
@tradermayne/X
John Silver AFC West meme
u/[deleted]/Reddit
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hawk tuah john silver mem
u/[deleted]/Reddit
In Body Image
@boofpacc-smile/IMGFLIP
In Body Image
@boofpacc-smile/IMGFLIP
In Body Image
@boofpacc-smile/IMGFLIP
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john silver 'me, saying the most cursed shit possible' to anna jay 'my friend just trying to have a normal day'
u/[deleted]/Reddit
monster hunter john silver anna jay explaining meme
u/[deleted]/Reddit
In Body Image
u/[deleted]/Reddit
howie mandel scheana drama john silver anna jay meme
u/[deleted]/Reddit
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The Daily Dot