It's Not Easy Being Mean: 'Pepe' Creator Wants His Meme Back
The creator of the meme Pepe the Frog said on Thursday that it’s "insane" that the "once peaceful frog dude" was now being used as a symbol of hatred by some in the so-called "alt-right" hate-group subculture and supporters of Donald Trump.
"It’s completely insane that Pepe has been labeled a symbol of hate, and that racists and anti-Semites are using a once peaceful frog-dude from my comic book as an icon of hate," Matt Furie, an artist and illustrator, said in a post on TIME’s website.
"It’s a nightmare, and the only thing I can do is see this as an opportunity to speak out against hate," Furie added.
Pepe the Frog was declared a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League last month after the meme had been increasingly used for bigoted internet posts.
The green meme was recently included in an image posted on Instagram by Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. The Republican nominee had also tweeted a version of the frog resembling Donald Trump.
Furie lamented how Pepe began as a harmless cartoon in 2005 in his comic book "Boy's Club" and was used for goofy memes in subsequent years until his current notoriety and association with neo-Nazis and other white supremacists.
"Before he got wrapped up in politics, Pepe was an inside-joke and a symbol for feeling sad or feeling good and many things in between," Furie said.
