Selena Gomez mocks her viral blanket photo

Photo of actor wrapped in blanket has unexpectedly become internet’s newest meme

A photo of Selena Gomez wrapped in a blanket has unintentionally become the internet’s latest meme. Now, it’s Selena Gomez who’s having the last laugh.

The amusing yet random meme came about last week, when the Only Murders in the Building star shared a photo of herself wrapped in a grey, geometric-printed blanket with only her head peeking out. As she’s pictured gazing out into the distance, her orange sequin Fendi Baguette bag is seen placed across from her on the table.

The image was then reposted on X, formally known as Twitter, by celebrity gossip account Pop Base with the caption: “Selena Gomez in new photo.” Surprisingly, the candid photo instantly went viral, as Gomez’s photo has since been viewed more than 104,000 times.

It didn’t take long for fans to craft wild memes and narratives about Gomez’s innocuous picture. In fact, many fans compared her to the final survivor of a horror flick or the harrowed heroine of a dramatic film.

“Horror movie characters sitting in the back of an ambulance after almost dying,” read one tweet.

“Everyone on the beach at the end of Big Little Lies,” another wrote.

“Rose after letting Jack die after the Titanic sunk,” a third person joked.

Others were more specific, like one user who compared the blissful photo to “rich old ladies sitting in their garden after they become a billionaire thanks to the inheritance of their freshly murdered husband (they hired a hitman)”.

“Me everytime I go to the beach and look at the water, thinking about what decisions led me to this exact moment,” said someone else.

As the meme took over social media, the Disney Channel alum appeared to catch wind of her photo becoming the subject of a viral internet trend. In true Gomez fashion, she joined in on the fun by sharing some of her favourite memes to her Instagram Story on Monday (14 August).

In one meme reposted to her Story, a fan captioned Gomez’s viral photo with a reference to the singer’s second studio album, A Year Without Rain by Selena Gomez and the Scene. “My mom just sent me this old picture of my abuela from when she was still living in Mexico, this was taken during a year without rain,” user Gabe Bergado jokingly tweeted.

(Selena Gomez / Instagram)

Fans were instantly overjoyed that Gomez had acknowledged the viral meme on her Instagram Story. “Selena knows about the meme lmfao,” one person tweeted, while another fan said: “I’m crying this is iconic”

Gomez has been keeping fans up to date on her personal life by sharing several candid snaps with friends and family to her Instagram. On 11 August, the Wizards of Waverly Place star posted a late night photo of herself twinning with on-again, off-again pal Francia Raisa. The two were rumoured to have had a falling out after Gomez called Taylor Swift her “only friend in the industry” during an interview with Rolling Stone last November.

However, Gomez shared a close-up image of their accidentally matching leopard print heels over the weekend, alongside the caption: “This was not planned.” The How I Met Your Father star then reposted the Story on her own Instagram account, adding: “No beef. Just salsa.”

The “Calm Down” singer also dispelled rumours of an alleged feud when she shared an Instagram tribute for Raisa’s birthday on 26 July. “Happiest of birthdays to this special human being. No matter where life takes us, I love you,” Gomez captioned the post, alongside a slideshow of the actors over the years.

The actors have been friends since 2007, when they first met during a visit to a children’s hospital. Ten years later, Raisa donated her kidney to Gomez amid her battle with lupus, the autoimmune disease that Gomez was diagnosed with when she was 24.