But That's None of My Business - EU-Vietnam Business Network (EVBN)

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About

“But That’s None of My Business” is a sarcastic expression used as a postscript to an insult or disrespectful remark said towards a specific individual or group. The phrase was popularized through an image macro series featuring Kermit the Frog from The Muppets and punchlines poking fun at a wide range of faux-pas and questionable behaviors in everyday social situations, with the meme format also becoming known simply as Kermit Drinking Tea.

Origin

As early as January 2014, Instagram users began posting captioned images of Kermit the Frog with the hashtag “#kermitmemes” (shown below, left). On June 17th, the earliest known Kermit image macro including the phrase “that’s none of my business” was highlighted by the @kermitbelike Instagram feed in a post mocking delusional women described as being “ratchet” (shown below, right).

Spread

On June 20th, the @thatsnoneofmybusinesstho Instagram feed was created, which highlights pictures of Kermit the Frog with “none of my business” captions. In the first four days, the feed gained over 130,000 followers.

On the same day, Twitter users began tweeting jokes using the hashtags #NoneOfMyBusiness and #Kermit, reaching over 19,000 and 11,000 mentions in the first four days respectively according to the Twitter analytics site Topsy.

On June 22nd, 2014, the single topic blog “Kemit the Snitch” was launched on Tumblr, which highlights notable examples from the image macro series. The first post featured a photograph of Kermit the Frog drinking a glass of iced tea with a caption mocking men who wear fake Jordan sneakers (shown below).

On the following day, YouTuber Bugatti Beez uploaded a video of Kermit the Frog reading notable “But Thats None Of My Business” examples (shown below). In the first 24 hours the video gained over 100,000 views and 480 comments.

Various Examples

As of June 2014, there are over 2,100 images uploaded under the tag “kermitmemes” on Instagram.

#TeaLizard

On June 20th, 2016, the meme saw a resurgence when Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James who led the team to earning its first NBA championship title in the franchise history, returned home wearing an “Ultimate Warrior” t-shirt and a cap embroidered with an image of Kermit the Frog sipping tea. That same day, James posted an Instagram of his meme-themed hat alongside the Larry O’Brien Trophy with the caption taunting his critics and skeptics:

On June 21st, LeBron James’ fashion statement was picked up by several news sites and sports blogs, including USA Today, Washington Post, GQ, New York Daily News and BarStoolSports, many of which underscored the celebrity athlete’s sense of humor. Meanwhile, ABC’s Good Morning America (GMA) chimed in on the emerging Crying Lebron photoshop meme with a tweet asking the followers whether it should be counted among the ranks of other well-known memes in the sports world, in which Kermit the Frog’s tea-sipping image was mislabeled with the hashtag #tealizard.

In the following hours, GMA’s tweet was met with a slew of snide remarks from those who noticed the misnomer #tealizard, as well as media coverage from The Verge, AOL, A.V. Club and Mashable.