This week's crop of things-that-only-matter-to-young people includes Gucci Morty and Chanty Beluga, two unrelated but incredibly popular meme characters, stolen source code for the biggest video game in the world, and a viral YouTube video that cost more than your house. So get ready to learn what's what and who's who among the younger generations.
What is "Gucci Morty" and why is it taking over?
Denizens of the internet create countless hundreds of thousands of memes every day, but only a tiny percentage ever gain any traction, and only one in a million really takes off. Gucci Morty is that meme this week. The image is of Morty from Rick and Morty wearing a black Gucci shirt and looking nonchalant ... and that's it. That's the whole thing.
I wouldn't have looked twice, but millions of younger people connected with the meme. Since he showed up about a week ago, Gucci Morty spread as fast as smallpox, from Instagram to TikTok to X to everywhere young people spread memes. Variations and tributes appeared, accompanied by part of "Lot of Me" by the rapper Lil Tecca, the song that gave Gucci Morty his catch phrase, "I can see you wanna vibe with me." Here's an example:
People started dressing as Gucci Morty:
It became a whole thing, with anyone under a certain age knowing Gucci Morty. But what does it mean? Why this meme? It's mostly ironic, with commenters noting Gucci Morty's endless aura, and memers putting him in "cool" situations. But the viral spread of Gucci Morty has become part of the joke, which has created a meme feedback loop, where people are posting Gucci Morty because there are so many memes of him, or posting videos where they comment on his all-of-a-sudden-everywhere nature:
Commenters seem to agree that Gucci Morty will vanish as quickly as he appeared, so get your fill now, before he becomes a "remember that one meme ..." in a few weeks.
Who is Chanty Beluga?
Gucci Morty isn't the only inexplicable viral star this week. There's also Chanty Beluga. A character created by comedian Courtney O'Donnell, Chanty Beluga is a friendly woman who likes to say "Hi, I'm Chanty Beluga" while she's doing things like ordering food, getting a coffee, or making a doctor's appointment. The videos are generally about five seconds long and get millions of views. Her popularity seems to come from a couple sources: 1) "Chanty Beluga" is a funny name. 2) The brief interactions include suggestions of a larger, stranger life for Chanty, which is never explored. Chanty Beluga buys a portable cryo-chamber on Facebook Marketplace. She's served with legal papers. She's "reading for the part of Crypt Keeper." It's not much to account for all the views, but some things just hit for people and you gotta shrug.
All about that Grand Theft Auto VI leak
There is no more eagerly awaited video game than Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto VI. Scheduled for release on November 19, 2026, Grand Theft Auto VI is is a game just about every gamer wants to play—but a few people are actually doing it. Mysterious hacker group Cyberleek has somehow gotten hold of a playable build of the game and has uploaded at least 10 gameplay videos to a Telegram Channel and a website. From there, they quickly spread everywhere, giving everyone an illicit peak of what to expect when this hits the market. But this is no viral marketing gimmick. Rockstar Games and its parent company Take-Two Interactive are furiously issuing subpoenas to Discord, Microsoft, and hosting providers to pull IP addresses and accounts linked to Cyberleek, nuking the videos when they appear. Right now, Cyberleek's site and Telegram are down, but I wouldn't be surprised if that does not stop them from posting more videos in the coming day. Cyberleek's drops are often couched in a message decrying digital-only game releases, but the real motivation isn't altruism, it's a crypto-currency scheme. Cyberleek has published a poll on its website where people can vote on what to show next through purchasing "CyberLeek" memecoin. As yet, there's no information on how, exactly, this group got its hands on GTA VI source code, leading to theories that a disgruntled employee made off with the code, or that some kind of phishing or other attack was wildly successful. The leaks are not expected to delay or alter "Grand Theft Auto 6: An Extended Look," a special streaming on Netflix beginning on August 27, nor should it affect the release date.
What is a Misery Girl?
"Misery girl" is slang for a young women with piercings, a penchant for the darkly dramatic, and highly stylized makeup that makes them appear to have a skinny, pointy nose and huge eyes and lips. Here's the kind of look a Misery Girl sports:
And here's a makeup tutorial if you want to try the look yourself:
The Misery Girl gets her name from the fact that she supposedly likes the song "Misery" by Pupsies, which you can listen to below (if you dare).
Memes about Misery Girls frequently include the phrase "Dada, play that Misery," a reference to ageplay, which misery girls are supposed to be into. They often include pictures of X user @himonkeyhamie, who I'm sure deserves none of this. Misery Girl is not a self-selected nomenclature like "goth" or "emo," and there don't seem to be a ton of people rocking the look or lifestyle. Ultimately, it's a term used almost exclusively as a slur; as many have pointed out, it's all basically an excuse weirdos use to bully altgirls.
Viral video of the week: Escape 100 Cops, Win $500,000
Back in 2017, unknown YouTuber Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson went viral for the first time by sitting in his room counting 100,000. That no-budget webcam stunt was enough to get millions of views on YouTube back then. This week's viral video from MrBeast has nearly 45 million views after only three days online, and it proves that you really have to up the production if you expect to go viral with a stunt video in 2026. Escape 100 Cops, Win $500,000 is among the most elaborate video ever shot for YouTube. MrBeast hired 100 off-duty Indiana State Police troopers to try to catch him and four of his friends as they hid out in a simulated town rigged with tunnels, explosives, secret rooms and more. Anyone who avoids capture for 12 hours gets a $100,000. The police department gets $500,000 if everyone is apprehended. The video required a huge production crew, legal department for the permits, explosive experts, post production department, and more. Judging from what MrBeast has said in the past about his more elaborate videos, the budget was comfortably in the multimillion dollar range.
