- Bodybuilder Mike O'Hearn is taking the internet by storm, and there's probably no real reason why.
- The "Baby Don't Hearn Me" meme has been posted hundreds of thousands of times in recent months.
Mike O'Hearn's on a horse. Mike O'Hearn's getting out of the pool. Mike O'Hearn's just standing there.
The internet has chosen its latest darling — a 54-year-old bodybuilder going viral for basically looking at the camera.
O'Hearn has seemingly inexplicably become a meme sensation on multiple social media platforms, with at least 1.8 billion views to his name. And two months in, he's still going strong.
If you haven't seen one yet, here's a breakdown of what a typical O'Hearn meme looks like.
There'll be an old clip of him strolling in the park, or putting on a shirt, or flexing — it doesn't really matter. A slowed-down version of Haddaway's 1993 hit "What is Love" plays. "Baby don't hurt me," the German singer's voice rumbles.
The punchline is always the caption. It has to be patently stupid, and ironically plays off O'Hearn's look of confidence in the clips.
@dracoe #mikeohearn #fyp #viral ♬ оригинальный звук - Wengallbi
@yohaan.01 Still got 40 mins left #fy #fyp #mikeohearn #mikeohearnmeme ♬ оригинальный звук - Wengallbi
O'Hearn, previously known for featuring on hundreds of magazine covers, has now appeared on hundreds of thousands of TikToks and Instagram reels. Governments and Arnold Schwarzenegger are posting their own versions of his meme.
So what's O'Hearn done to go viral this year? It's hard to say. Early versions of the meme exploded on TikTok in March, created by random social media meme accounts.
@scelzafit Which version of me are you diagnosing⁉️ (follow 4 more) #gymmemes #gymtok #fittok #memestiktok #memes #fyp #mikeohearnmeme #mikeohearn #relatable #schizoposting #scelzafit ♬ What is love - Tyler
O'Hearn says he's got no idea how the memes kicked off, but thinks they're hilarious. "I don't know where it started, but it has taken over," he said in a Twitter video.
His TikTok account, which had around 628,000 followers in April 2022, jumped to nearly a million followers by March 2023. Now, the bodybuilder has over 2.3 million followers.
On Google, searches for O'Hearn are at an all-time high.
O'Hearn posts a video nearly every day now, where he duels Darth Vader and makes protein shakes to the tune of "What is Love?"
And it's working. While his TikToks rarely broke the 100,000 view mark in 2022, he's now hitting millions of views in almost every post. He sells "Baby Don't Hearn Me" t-shirts at $35 a pop.
As memes tend to do, the O'Hearn joke is evolving. The joke is now often a terrible pun about kids in class with weird names. It's a little hard to explain.
@cheese_nuggetss Kid named enola#mikeohearn #babydonthurtme #fyp #funny #trend #sigma #trending #viral #foryoupage #tiktok ♬ original sound - Editzz
With "Baby Don't Hearn Me" at the internet's mercy, only time can tell what will become of the meme — and O'Hearn's online legacy.
The bodybuilder posted a serious video in March discussing fitness products and training regimens.
"Baby don't hurt me," said everyone in the comments.
O'Hearn did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.