I created the meme at the center of Lizzo's American Eagle feud with Sydney Sweeney... here is what I REALLY think

Daily Mail​

20 hours ago

Sydney Sweeney 's American Eagle ad sparked a furor last week with even singer Lizzo poking fun at the on-screen star.
The 37-year-old re-posted a meme of herself recreating the controversial poster advertising jeans - but where exactly did it originate?
The singer - who has been vocal about her left-leaning politics - took to Instagram with an AI-generated image of herself in the same denim outfit and pose as Sydney.
The intention behind Lizzo's post appeared to be a criticism of the ad - as fans rushed to throw support behind her clap back at the brand.
But the original creator of the image, Kevin Flynn, has since spoken to Daily Mail about how he became embroiled in the public feud.
He revealed that he had no idea Lizzo would repost the photo or that it would become the center of high-profile celebrity drama.
Kevin said a friend sent him the first TMZ article about the meme but he didn't recognize it at first.
He explained: 'I saw it and said, "Why does that look familiar?" Then I realized I made it. And I think it's hilarious. She made an entire music video recreating the meme, and made a whole new song about it.
'She wasn't even involved in this whatsoever until the meme. That is insanely funny to me.'
After the post went viral and the story was picked up by national news outlets, Kevin proudly did a victory lap on his X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram pages, writing: 'So, funny story, but I think I started a full blown beef between Lizzo and Sydney Sweeney.
'Lizzo reposted my AI meme from yesterday calling out Sydney Sweeney and now it's all over TMZ lmao…'
Lizzo fans interpreted the meme as having a significant political message, with the most liked comment on the singer's post reading: 'My jeans are black. My genes built this country. My jeans are made from the same cotton this country was built on.'
One tweet about the meme read: 'Lizzo's "meme heard round the world" was made to unify Black woman in a time when Trump's America is focused on white genetics.'
But Kevin has since fired back.
He responded on social media, jokingly writing: 'Actually it was made by a white person... and I made it with hate in my heart.'
He also screenshotted the interaction and posted it to his Instagram.
The mastermind behind the 'WhitePeopleHumor' page has become known for making outrageous statements in an attempt to elicit reactions and engagement from people on both sides of the political spectrum.
Asked whether he was trying to get a political message across with the meme, Kevin told the Daily Mail: 'I'm never trying to send a message. It's always about humor and making people laugh.
'The second I start actually caring about things, especially two women fighting, the less funny it becomes.'
A later post from his Instagram page making fun of Trump had a caption that read: 'Hey MAGA people following from the Lizzo debacle, just a quick note, but we make fun of everyone on this page…'
So what inspired Kevin to create the image if it wasn't politically motivated?
The meme creator said: 'Honestly I was just trying to justify my monthly AI subscriptions. I tried Grok first but it didn't look like Lizzo enough. I kept prompting it... but I just went with ChatGPT and it nailed it on the first try.'
When it comes to his thoughts on the American Eagle ad that kicked off the controversy, Kevin said: 'I don't think it was originally meant to be about race. I could be wrong.
'From a marketing perspective it boosted American Eagle's market value by $400 million so it was definitely successful.'
Kevin's original post of the image on July 30 included a watermark with his name on the top right of the meme, but that watermark was notably absent from the version Lizzo posted to her account.
Either the singer removed the watermark herself before posting, or she lifted the meme from a different repost which had already removed it.
Kevin regularly creates original content and memes for his 'WhitePeopleHumor' Instagram page and other social media pages that he manages, which in total boast around 20 million followers across accounts.
Meme creators rarely receive credit for their work as the images they create get reposted and shared countless times.
But Kevin is unbothered by the lack of public acknowledgment and happy with the way the meme he created took off and became part of a national conversation.
Kevin said: 'I didn't even ask for credit. Honestly I don't think it would have gone as viral as it did if she did credit me. Her taking ownership and making it all about her being Black made it a race thing that every news channel went with.