During the 95th Oscars, Andrew Garfield became a viral meme after making a grin in response to a Spider-Man joke made by host Jimmy Kimmel. The joke was a one-two punch as he referenced the slap from last year, in which Will Smith slapped Chris Rock over a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
The lack of security was largely what led Smith to get on stage to slap Rock, resulting in a crisis team to handle any situations that were to arise. Kimmel joked about the people that would defend him if something were to occur, like if someone were to “get mad at a joke.” He then said, “You are gonna have to tangle with Spider-Man.” With a shout-out to Andrew Garfield, the camera cut to him, and he delivered an awkward grin that became an instant meme.
As a part of the joke, Kimmel mentioned other actors who “you would have to get through first.” He gave these shout-outs through the character names of the actors, with the exception of Michelle Yeoh due to her iconic status in action movies. She delivered a slashing zigzag with her hands. The character names mentioned were Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), who made a fun “intimidating” look; The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal), who pointed at his eyes and then straight to the camera to show he means business; Spider-Man, which led to the grin from Andrew Garfield, capturing much attention away from the awards at the 2023 Oscars; Fableman (Steven Spielberg), who raised his eyebrows at this call to defend the host; and Kimmel’s “right-hand man Guillermo [del Toro],” who laughed when the camera turned to him, only for the host to correct himself that he meant Guillermo Rodriguez from his late-night show, which saw him pounding his fist into the palm of his other hand, ready to brawl.
Andrew Garfield became a viral meme at the 2023 Oscars after an awkward grin
Don’t mess with Jimmy tonight! @MichaelB4Jordan #MichelleYeoh #PedroPascal #AndrewGarfield #StevenSpielberg @RealGDT @IamGuillermo pic.twitter.com/FxdN7UdSin
— Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) March 13, 2023
Memes of Andrew Garfield perfectly capture various reactions to the Oscars. Twitter user cevansgarfield posted the image and wrote, “Angela Bassett not winning best supporting actress is just.” Thejaslou also gave love to one star by giving her reaction to Everything Everywhere All at Once star Stephan Hsu not taking home the prize by writing, “Me when I didn’t hear Stephanie Hsu’s name announced in best supporting actress winner.” Others got more personal, like user IamDandyLioness writing, “Me whenever someone tries to give me a compliment,” with the video of the grin attached at the bottom.
It was not the first time Andrew Garfield has become a meme from his appearance at the Oscars. He was caught texting during the slap.
The Amazing Spider-Man actor was not just there to make a face that fans would adore. He presented with Florence Pugh the awards for Best Adapted Screenplay (Women Talking) and Original Screenplay (Everything Everywhere All at Once). He has been nominated twice as he had been up for an award for 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge and last year’s Tick, Tick… BOOM!. Pugh had been nominated for 2019’s Little Women, which was part of the domino effect that put her into A-lister territory.