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Memes

The Gay Little Monkey at the Apple Store: A history

People are channeling their inner gay little monkey.

Photo of Angela Andaloro

Angela Andaloro

child in monkey suit standing in apple store

The Gay Little Monkey meme references an image of a little boy wearing a tight, one-piece monkey costume in an Apple Store standing with one leg bent and leaning on the other as he plays on an iPad. The image first went viral in the early 2010s and has since enjoyed many iterations that poke fun at the costume and posture of the child photographed.

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child in monkey suit standing in apple store
ZanyPickle

Gay Little Monkey origins

The earliest evidence of this photo being used as a meme is its inclusion in a 2010 meme dump on the blog Zany Pickle. The image circulated on its own throughout the next few years. It enjoyed a boost after appearing in a 2012 Reddit post.

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boy dressed in tight monkey costume playing with tablet in apple store
u/[deleted]/Reddit

By the late 2010s, the monkey boy photo began being formatted into memes across social media. Initially, it caught on with the macro, “What the f–k gay little monkey boy?” As it gained popularity, different phrases and different iterations of the little boy began to appear.

what the f--k gay little monkey meme
u/[deleted]/Reddit

Gay Little Monkey at Gamestop

The meme was revived when the little monkey boy was photoshopped out of his Apple Store surroundings. He was inserted into GameStop, spelled “ganestop” in the meme.

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gay little monkey meme in gamestop
u/Chaz4220/Reddit

Gay Little Monkey AI images

This simple and silly meme returned to the digital spotlight in late 2023. As people began experimenting with AI image generators, someone began slotting different celebrities into the meme format.

Originated by TikToker @microplasticangel, AI-generated images of singer Lana Del Ray and actor Timothée Chalamet. In one photo set, the two spend time together in an Apple Store. They are both dressed as the little gay monkeys in images so believable that some were duped into believing they are real.

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Another set of images has the pair enjoying a cozy cabin Thanksgiving together. Though the setting is different, they are both still dressed in the meme’s signature costume.

AI images of Lana Del Ray and Timothee Chalamet as little gay monkey in apple store
@microplasticangel/TikTok
AI images of Lana Del Ray and Timothee Chalamet as little gay monkey
@microplasticangel/TikTok

Another take on the meme starring Ed Sheeran, with people poking fun at the popular but polarizing singer.

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ed sheeran as the gay little monkey boy in a tweet that reads 'last night i drunkenly sent this to a coworker group chat and everyone ignored it'
@Baileymoon15/X

Meme examples:

gay little monkey apple store one piece workout
@Baileymoon15/X
animated gay little monkey boy in apple store
@Baileymoon15/X
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Twitter user @ncantu changes profile to look like official apple twitter and tweets 'happy pride month to all the gay little monkeys in our stores around the world'
@ncantu/X
monkey in a little coat confused with little gay monkey
@ncantu/X
person recreating little gay monkey boy in an apple store
@ncantu/X
minecraft version of gay little monkey meme
u/weedlizard/Reddit
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little gay monkey meme with caption 'what the fuck bicurious george?'
u/weedlizard/Reddit
hello kitty island version of gay little monkey meme
u/weedlizard/Reddit
roman roy standing in the same posture as gay little monkey meme
u/DoodsieDoot/Reddit
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The Daily Dot