'Never Ask' Meme Reveals Scandalous Facts About Celebrities & History

Never ask a woman her age, a man his salary, and a shitposter whether their meme is OC. All three are going to lie to you.

We always welcome the resurgence of a classic meme, and the internet's latest revival of the "never ask" meme is revealing all sorts of dark details about the backstories of famous people. The internet never forgets. We've included a bit of context for each meme to save you from going on a googling frenzy.

Posted by Mel Dawn

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On February 19, Twitter user @jacksonbunz posted a version of the "never ask" meme roasting indie musicians by implying that their parents are usually rich and/or powerful. The tweet went viral, gaining 269k likes and 21.9k retweets and likely causing a resurgence of the format as a result.

Via @jacksonbunz
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In 1988, Mark Wahlberg was charged with attempted murder and spent 45 days in prison for attacking a Vietnamese man.

Via @staidindoors
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On August 5, 1987, Matthew Broderick drove on the wrong side of the road in Northern Ireland and collided head-on with another vehicle. Two people were killed in the crash.

Via @2Saddington
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Zoe Kazan's grandfather was director Elia Kazan, who snitched on fellow Group Theatre members to the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952.

Via @a_o_rdj
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It is rumored that Jonathan and Christopher Nolan's brother Matthew Nolan was an assassin who allegedly kidnapped and murdered Florida accountant Robert Cohen in Costa Rica. While he was awaiting extradition to Costa Rica in 2010, Nolan attempted to escape the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. He failed.

Via @zachsilberberg
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Woody Harrelson's father was a hitman who was hired by drug kingpin Jimmy Chagra to assassinate federal judge John H. Wood Jr. in 1976. Woody Harrelson later hired Alan Dershowitz to help with his father's appeal.

Via @Chinchillazllla
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In 1990, Jon Hamm participated in the brutal fraternity initiation of a fellow University of Texas student. Hamm was charged with hazing and the Sigma Nu chapter at UT Austin disbanded as a result of the incident.

Via @sonnerly
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In September 2009, former producer and convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein created a petition demanding "the immediate release of Roman Polanski" after the director was detained in Switzerland on a warrant for an underage sex case that he avoided by fleeing America in 1977. Over 100 people in the film industry signed the petition, including Woody Allen, Wes Anderson, Natalie Portman, Martin Scorcese, Tilda Swinton, and David Lynch, just to name a few.

Via @thom_weights
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Celebrities aren't the only ones being targeted by the meme

The format has been used to remind the internet about little-known and long-forgotten historical events, like Project MK ULTRA—a CIA-led research study on mind control that was carried out at 80 different institutions and front organizations, including McGill University. The CIA used drugs and invasive psychological treatments on human subjects to test the possibility of controlling human behavior.

Via @incellectuals6
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Some oldies, but goodies

According to Know Your Meme, a similar version of the "never ask a woman her age" template was first posted in 2013. Since then, shitposters all across the internet have been using the meme to cleverly dunk on subcultures or allude to historical atrocities. (This one manages to do both.)

Via KnowYourMeme
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Via KnowYourMeme
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Via KnowYourMeme
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Via @incellectuals6