Side Eyeing Chloe

2013Reaction image / Photoshop memesemi-active

Also known as: Side Eye Chloe · Unimpressed Chloe · Chloe Queen of Everything

Side Eyeing Chloe is a 2013 reaction-image meme of two-year-old Chloe Clem's bewildered side-eye glance, which became the definitive visual of internet skepticism and judgment.

Side Eyeing Chloe is a reaction image and photoshop meme featuring two-year-old Chloe Clem giving a bewildered sideways glance while her older sister Lily cries with joy after learning about a surprise trip to Disneyland. The screenshot, pulled from a September 2013 YouTube video, spread rapidly on Tumblr before crossing over to every major platform. BuzzFeed dubbed Chloe "the patron saint of Tumblr," and the image became one of the most recognizable reaction memes of the 2010s10.

TL;DR

The meme comes from a single frame of a YouTube video where sisters Lily and Chloe Clem are told they're going to Disneyland instead of school.

Overview

The meme comes from a single frame of a YouTube video where sisters Lily and Chloe Clem are told they're going to Disneyland instead of school. Lily immediately bursts into tears of happiness. Chloe, sitting next to her in the back seat, shoots a confused and slightly disturbed look sideways at her crying sister. That split-second expression of skepticism and bewilderment became the meme's entire foundation5.

The screenshot works as a universal reaction image for any situation involving confusion, judgment, or the quiet realization that something weird is happening. Chloe's face captures a very specific emotion: "What is wrong with this person?" It's the look you give a coworker who just microwaved fish in the break room9.

On September 12, 2013, YouTube channel KAftC (Katie After the Chaos, run by Katie Clem) uploaded a video titled "Lily's Disneyland Surprise… AGAIN!"4. The video was a follow-up to a similar surprise Disneyland announcement from two years earlier that had already gone viral with over 19 million views5. In the 2013 version, Lily again broke down crying when she heard the news, but this time the camera caught her younger sister Chloe, then two years old, looking deeply unimpressed by the whole situation.

Six days later, on September 18, Tumblr user Lee (justtouchedawkwardly) posted an animated GIF set of highlights from the video. One frame isolated Chloe's sideways glance, captioned: "i just love this because chloe is like 'da hell is this girl cryin about'"7. The post picked up speed fast, collecting more than 895,700 notes in under a month4.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (source video), Tumblr (viral spread)
Key People
Katie Clem, Lee / justtouchedawkwardly, Chloe Clem
Date
2013
Year
2013

On September 12, 2013, YouTube channel KAftC (Katie After the Chaos, run by Katie Clem) uploaded a video titled "Lily's Disneyland Surprise… AGAIN!". The video was a follow-up to a similar surprise Disneyland announcement from two years earlier that had already gone viral with over 19 million views. In the 2013 version, Lily again broke down crying when she heard the news, but this time the camera caught her younger sister Chloe, then two years old, looking deeply unimpressed by the whole situation.

Six days later, on September 18, Tumblr user Lee (justtouchedawkwardly) posted an animated GIF set of highlights from the video. One frame isolated Chloe's sideways glance, captioned: "i just love this because chloe is like 'da hell is this girl cryin about'". The post picked up speed fast, collecting more than 895,700 notes in under a month.

How It Spread

BuzzFeed writer Matt Bellassai spotted Lee's GIF set on September 24, 2013, running an article titled "Girl Reacting To Disneyland Is The Only Reaction You'll Need For Anything Ever." He called Chloe's expression "the most important and universal reaction to anything ever".

The Tumblr community ran with the screenshot. On November 1, user Yungbasedblogger posted a standalone reaction image of Chloe's face with the caption "could u f--king not," which racked up over 120,000 notes in two weeks. By November 5, a dedicated Tumblr blog called "Chloe Queen of Everything" launched, posting photoshopped images of Chloe's face onto celebrities and historical figures. The blog featured Chloe's expression on Abraham Lincoln, Lady Gaga album covers, and various other pop culture images.

On November 13, BuzzFeed published a second article, this time calling Chloe "officially the patron saint of Tumblr" and compiling the best photoshop edits from the Tumblr community. The original YouTube video crossed 20 million views.

The meme saw a major resurgence in May 2017. The Clem family traveled to Brazil after Google invited Chloe to visit their São Paulo offices as part of an ad campaign. The @lilyandchloeofficial Instagram account posted photos from the trip, showing Chloe posing next to Google office decorations featuring her own face. On May 22, Twitter user @AnnaCrysti tweeted the photos with the caption "Y'all look at my girl Chloe all grown up," pulling in over 105,000 likes and 41,000 retweets within 72 hours. BuzzFeed, Bustle, and Seventeen all ran stories about the now six-year-old.

How to Use This Meme

Side Eyeing Chloe works best as a reaction image when you want to express silent judgment, confusion, or a "what is happening right now" vibe. Common approaches include:

1

Straight reaction image: Post the screenshot in response to something weird, cringeworthy, or hard to believe. The expression reads as quiet side-eye without needing any caption.

2

Captioned version: Add text like "When someone says..." above the image, with Chloe's face delivering the punchline of unspoken judgment.

3

Face swap / photoshop: Place Chloe's face onto another person or character in a photo to imply they should be giving side-eye in that situation. The "Chloe Queen of Everything" format popularized this approach.

Cultural Impact

The meme's reach extended well beyond internet humor. Google ran a promotional campaign featuring Chloe in their São Paulo offices in 2017, decorating the building with her likeness and flying the family out for a visit. The campaign generated its own wave of viral content when photos from the trip spread across Twitter.

In 2014, Chloe and Katie appeared on the Brazilian TV show Eliana to discuss the meme. The family also appeared in BuzzFeed's 2019 video series "I Accidentally Became A Meme".

The NFT sale in 2021 made Side Eyeing Chloe part of a broader wave of classic memes being auctioned as digital collectibles. The 25 ETH ($74,000) sale put it alongside other meme NFTs like Disaster Girl, Bad Luck Brian, and Overly Attached Girlfriend.

The meme also sparked conversations about children's privacy and the ethics of viral fame. Katie Clem's candid interviews about feeling guilt over her daughter's exposure gave the story a more complicated dimension than most meme origin stories. She turned down a Disney TV opportunity for Lily and deliberately scaled back content creation as the kids grew older.

Full History

The Clem family's journey with viral fame started before Side Eyeing Chloe even existed. The first Disneyland surprise video, posted in 2011 on Katie Clem's YouTube channel, had already attracted millions of views. The 2013 follow-up was meant to capture another sweet moment, not launch a meme empire. But Chloe's two-year-old skepticism stole the show from her sister's tears.

What made the meme spread so effectively was its versatility. The screenshot worked in almost any context where someone needed to express silent judgment. Tumblr users in late 2013 treated Chloe's face like a Swiss Army knife of reaction images. The "could u f--king not" caption version and the photoshop blog gave people two distinct ways to use the meme: as a reaction image or as a face-swap template.

The fame brought real-world consequences for the family. Katie Clem later told People Magazine that she "didn't fully understand how big it would get." Strangers started recognizing toddler Chloe in public and asking for photos. "Chloe was 2, and people were coming up to her. They were freaking out. They were taking pictures of her," Katie recalled. The attention wasn't limited to the United States. During the 2017 Brazil trip, the family was "swarmed" by hundreds of people in São Paulo, where Chloe's face appeared on billboards across the city. Katie compared the experience to Beatlemania.

The financial side told a different story. The Clem family was struggling financially when the meme took off. "10 years ago, we were so poor," Katie said in a 2025 interview. The family monetized the image for commercial use, and the licensing income helped them cover rent, bills, and food for years. "That money literally helped us survive for a decade," Katie explained. They landed sponsorship deals including a partnership with Google that led to the Brazil trip.

In 2017, both Chloe and Lily began modeling careers. That same year, Disney approached the family about featuring Lily in a TV show. Katie turned it down, trusting her instinct that the entertainment industry wasn't the right path for her kids. "I just knew that was not the direction I wanted for my children," she said.

In 2019, Chloe and Katie appeared on BuzzFeed's series "I Accidentally Became A Meme," discussing how the viral moment changed their lives. Two years later, in 2021, the family sold the original Side Eyeing Chloe image as a non-fungible token for 25 Ethereum, roughly $74,000 at the time. The NFT sale capped off the meme's commercial life and helped fund Chloe's future education.

Katie gradually pulled back from posting content as her daughters grew older. She noticed them getting bored and tired during filming sessions and decided to stop. "Once they got a little bit older, I forced them to do things, and I could tell they were bored. I could tell they were tired, and I'm like, 'Okay, we're done,'" she told People. The family reduced their social media presence significantly.

By 2025, Chloe was 14 and mostly unrecognizable from her toddler self. "It's pretty weird. Sometimes it's funny, but other times it's just kind of strange," Chloe said about her meme fame. She still maintains an Instagram presence, referring to herself as the "original side eye queen". Katie expressed mixed feelings looking back, telling People she carries "a lot of guilt" about exposing her daughter to viral fame at such a young age. "The internet is forever. Once it's out there, you can't take it back".

Fun Facts

The 2013 Disneyland video was a sequel. The first surprise Disneyland announcement video, posted in 2011, already had over 19 million views before the meme version was uploaded.

Chloe was born on November 30, 2010, in Utah, making her not quite three when the viral video was filmed.

BuzzFeed covered the meme at least three separate times: a reaction GIF roundup in September 2013, a photoshop compilation in November 2013, and a "grown up" update in May 2017.

During the Brazil trip, Katie said Chloe was particularly excited to see her own face on an elevator door at the Google offices.

In 2021, Chloe and Lily appeared in two episodes of the satirical show The Beech Boys.

Derivatives & Variations

"Could u f--king not" reaction:

A standalone version captioned with this phrase, created by Tumblr user Yungbasedblogger in November 2013. Collected 120,000+ notes[4].

Chloe Queen of Everything:

A dedicated Tumblr blog photoshopping Chloe's face onto celebrities, historical figures, and pop culture icons[5][10].

Chloe Swift:

A Tumblr post combining Chloe's face with Taylor Swift imagery, part of the broader photoshop trend[3].

Side Eyeing Chloe NFT:

The original image sold as a non-fungible token in 2021 for 25 ETH (~$74,000)[5].

Frequently Asked Questions

Side Eyeing Chloe

2013Reaction image / Photoshop memesemi-active

Also known as: Side Eye Chloe · Unimpressed Chloe · Chloe Queen of Everything

Side Eyeing Chloe is a 2013 reaction-image meme of two-year-old Chloe Clem's bewildered side-eye glance, which became the definitive visual of internet skepticism and judgment.

Side Eyeing Chloe is a reaction image and photoshop meme featuring two-year-old Chloe Clem giving a bewildered sideways glance while her older sister Lily cries with joy after learning about a surprise trip to Disneyland. The screenshot, pulled from a September 2013 YouTube video, spread rapidly on Tumblr before crossing over to every major platform. BuzzFeed dubbed Chloe "the patron saint of Tumblr," and the image became one of the most recognizable reaction memes of the 2010s.

TL;DR

The meme comes from a single frame of a YouTube video where sisters Lily and Chloe Clem are told they're going to Disneyland instead of school.

Overview

The meme comes from a single frame of a YouTube video where sisters Lily and Chloe Clem are told they're going to Disneyland instead of school. Lily immediately bursts into tears of happiness. Chloe, sitting next to her in the back seat, shoots a confused and slightly disturbed look sideways at her crying sister. That split-second expression of skepticism and bewilderment became the meme's entire foundation.

The screenshot works as a universal reaction image for any situation involving confusion, judgment, or the quiet realization that something weird is happening. Chloe's face captures a very specific emotion: "What is wrong with this person?" It's the look you give a coworker who just microwaved fish in the break room.

On September 12, 2013, YouTube channel KAftC (Katie After the Chaos, run by Katie Clem) uploaded a video titled "Lily's Disneyland Surprise… AGAIN!". The video was a follow-up to a similar surprise Disneyland announcement from two years earlier that had already gone viral with over 19 million views. In the 2013 version, Lily again broke down crying when she heard the news, but this time the camera caught her younger sister Chloe, then two years old, looking deeply unimpressed by the whole situation.

Six days later, on September 18, Tumblr user Lee (justtouchedawkwardly) posted an animated GIF set of highlights from the video. One frame isolated Chloe's sideways glance, captioned: "i just love this because chloe is like 'da hell is this girl cryin about'". The post picked up speed fast, collecting more than 895,700 notes in under a month.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (source video), Tumblr (viral spread)
Key People
Katie Clem, Lee / justtouchedawkwardly, Chloe Clem
Date
2013
Year
2013

On September 12, 2013, YouTube channel KAftC (Katie After the Chaos, run by Katie Clem) uploaded a video titled "Lily's Disneyland Surprise… AGAIN!". The video was a follow-up to a similar surprise Disneyland announcement from two years earlier that had already gone viral with over 19 million views. In the 2013 version, Lily again broke down crying when she heard the news, but this time the camera caught her younger sister Chloe, then two years old, looking deeply unimpressed by the whole situation.

Six days later, on September 18, Tumblr user Lee (justtouchedawkwardly) posted an animated GIF set of highlights from the video. One frame isolated Chloe's sideways glance, captioned: "i just love this because chloe is like 'da hell is this girl cryin about'". The post picked up speed fast, collecting more than 895,700 notes in under a month.

How It Spread

BuzzFeed writer Matt Bellassai spotted Lee's GIF set on September 24, 2013, running an article titled "Girl Reacting To Disneyland Is The Only Reaction You'll Need For Anything Ever." He called Chloe's expression "the most important and universal reaction to anything ever".

The Tumblr community ran with the screenshot. On November 1, user Yungbasedblogger posted a standalone reaction image of Chloe's face with the caption "could u f--king not," which racked up over 120,000 notes in two weeks. By November 5, a dedicated Tumblr blog called "Chloe Queen of Everything" launched, posting photoshopped images of Chloe's face onto celebrities and historical figures. The blog featured Chloe's expression on Abraham Lincoln, Lady Gaga album covers, and various other pop culture images.

On November 13, BuzzFeed published a second article, this time calling Chloe "officially the patron saint of Tumblr" and compiling the best photoshop edits from the Tumblr community. The original YouTube video crossed 20 million views.

The meme saw a major resurgence in May 2017. The Clem family traveled to Brazil after Google invited Chloe to visit their São Paulo offices as part of an ad campaign. The @lilyandchloeofficial Instagram account posted photos from the trip, showing Chloe posing next to Google office decorations featuring her own face. On May 22, Twitter user @AnnaCrysti tweeted the photos with the caption "Y'all look at my girl Chloe all grown up," pulling in over 105,000 likes and 41,000 retweets within 72 hours. BuzzFeed, Bustle, and Seventeen all ran stories about the now six-year-old.

How to Use This Meme

Side Eyeing Chloe works best as a reaction image when you want to express silent judgment, confusion, or a "what is happening right now" vibe. Common approaches include:

1

Straight reaction image: Post the screenshot in response to something weird, cringeworthy, or hard to believe. The expression reads as quiet side-eye without needing any caption.

2

Captioned version: Add text like "When someone says..." above the image, with Chloe's face delivering the punchline of unspoken judgment.

3

Face swap / photoshop: Place Chloe's face onto another person or character in a photo to imply they should be giving side-eye in that situation. The "Chloe Queen of Everything" format popularized this approach.

Cultural Impact

The meme's reach extended well beyond internet humor. Google ran a promotional campaign featuring Chloe in their São Paulo offices in 2017, decorating the building with her likeness and flying the family out for a visit. The campaign generated its own wave of viral content when photos from the trip spread across Twitter.

In 2014, Chloe and Katie appeared on the Brazilian TV show Eliana to discuss the meme. The family also appeared in BuzzFeed's 2019 video series "I Accidentally Became A Meme".

The NFT sale in 2021 made Side Eyeing Chloe part of a broader wave of classic memes being auctioned as digital collectibles. The 25 ETH ($74,000) sale put it alongside other meme NFTs like Disaster Girl, Bad Luck Brian, and Overly Attached Girlfriend.

The meme also sparked conversations about children's privacy and the ethics of viral fame. Katie Clem's candid interviews about feeling guilt over her daughter's exposure gave the story a more complicated dimension than most meme origin stories. She turned down a Disney TV opportunity for Lily and deliberately scaled back content creation as the kids grew older.

Full History

The Clem family's journey with viral fame started before Side Eyeing Chloe even existed. The first Disneyland surprise video, posted in 2011 on Katie Clem's YouTube channel, had already attracted millions of views. The 2013 follow-up was meant to capture another sweet moment, not launch a meme empire. But Chloe's two-year-old skepticism stole the show from her sister's tears.

What made the meme spread so effectively was its versatility. The screenshot worked in almost any context where someone needed to express silent judgment. Tumblr users in late 2013 treated Chloe's face like a Swiss Army knife of reaction images. The "could u f--king not" caption version and the photoshop blog gave people two distinct ways to use the meme: as a reaction image or as a face-swap template.

The fame brought real-world consequences for the family. Katie Clem later told People Magazine that she "didn't fully understand how big it would get." Strangers started recognizing toddler Chloe in public and asking for photos. "Chloe was 2, and people were coming up to her. They were freaking out. They were taking pictures of her," Katie recalled. The attention wasn't limited to the United States. During the 2017 Brazil trip, the family was "swarmed" by hundreds of people in São Paulo, where Chloe's face appeared on billboards across the city. Katie compared the experience to Beatlemania.

The financial side told a different story. The Clem family was struggling financially when the meme took off. "10 years ago, we were so poor," Katie said in a 2025 interview. The family monetized the image for commercial use, and the licensing income helped them cover rent, bills, and food for years. "That money literally helped us survive for a decade," Katie explained. They landed sponsorship deals including a partnership with Google that led to the Brazil trip.

In 2017, both Chloe and Lily began modeling careers. That same year, Disney approached the family about featuring Lily in a TV show. Katie turned it down, trusting her instinct that the entertainment industry wasn't the right path for her kids. "I just knew that was not the direction I wanted for my children," she said.

In 2019, Chloe and Katie appeared on BuzzFeed's series "I Accidentally Became A Meme," discussing how the viral moment changed their lives. Two years later, in 2021, the family sold the original Side Eyeing Chloe image as a non-fungible token for 25 Ethereum, roughly $74,000 at the time. The NFT sale capped off the meme's commercial life and helped fund Chloe's future education.

Katie gradually pulled back from posting content as her daughters grew older. She noticed them getting bored and tired during filming sessions and decided to stop. "Once they got a little bit older, I forced them to do things, and I could tell they were bored. I could tell they were tired, and I'm like, 'Okay, we're done,'" she told People. The family reduced their social media presence significantly.

By 2025, Chloe was 14 and mostly unrecognizable from her toddler self. "It's pretty weird. Sometimes it's funny, but other times it's just kind of strange," Chloe said about her meme fame. She still maintains an Instagram presence, referring to herself as the "original side eye queen". Katie expressed mixed feelings looking back, telling People she carries "a lot of guilt" about exposing her daughter to viral fame at such a young age. "The internet is forever. Once it's out there, you can't take it back".

Fun Facts

The 2013 Disneyland video was a sequel. The first surprise Disneyland announcement video, posted in 2011, already had over 19 million views before the meme version was uploaded.

Chloe was born on November 30, 2010, in Utah, making her not quite three when the viral video was filmed.

BuzzFeed covered the meme at least three separate times: a reaction GIF roundup in September 2013, a photoshop compilation in November 2013, and a "grown up" update in May 2017.

During the Brazil trip, Katie said Chloe was particularly excited to see her own face on an elevator door at the Google offices.

In 2021, Chloe and Lily appeared in two episodes of the satirical show The Beech Boys.

Derivatives & Variations

"Could u f--king not" reaction:

A standalone version captioned with this phrase, created by Tumblr user Yungbasedblogger in November 2013. Collected 120,000+ notes[4].

Chloe Queen of Everything:

A dedicated Tumblr blog photoshopping Chloe's face onto celebrities, historical figures, and pop culture icons[5][10].

Chloe Swift:

A Tumblr post combining Chloe's face with Taylor Swift imagery, part of the broader photoshop trend[3].

Side Eyeing Chloe NFT:

The original image sold as a non-fungible token in 2021 for 25 ETH (~$74,000)[5].

Frequently Asked Questions