Memes are basically the hieroglyphics of our era. You see a blurry image of a guy in a gray suit and suddenly you understand exactly how it feels when a major corporation pollutes the ocean and then tweets a "Save the Turtles" graphic. That guy is Eric Andre. The meme is often called "Who Killed Hannibal?" or simply the eric andre why would you do this meme.
Honestly, it’s the perfect visual for the gaslighting age.
What Actually Happened in That Scene?
If you haven't seen The Eric Andre Show, it's less of a talk show and more of a hostage situation involving C-list celebrities. The specific clip that birthed a thousand Twitter threads comes from Season 2, Episode 6, which first aired way back in 2013.
Eric is doing his usual opening monologue. He starts talking about climate change—totally normal topic for him to pivot away from—and then he suddenly turns to his co-host, Hannibal Buress. He says something about Hannibal needing to get new underwear and then, without missing a beat, pulls out a handgun and empties two full magazines into Hannibal’s chest.
It's violent. It’s absurd. It’s classic Adult Swim.
But the part that made it legendary isn't the shooting. It’s what happens next. Eric stands over the "dead" body of his best friend, holsters the gun, looks directly into the lens with a face full of fake concern, and whispers: "Who killed Hannibal?"
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The Anatomy of the Blame Game
The internet didn't actually notice this moment for years. It stayed buried in the archives of late-night stoner TV until about 2018. That’s when Reddit got its hands on it.
The eric andre why would you do this meme works because it follows a very specific logic of hypocrisy. In the first panel, you have an aggressor (Eric) destroying a victim (Hannibal). In the second panel, the aggressor looks at the audience and blames a third party.
- The Aggressor: Labeled as something like "Baby Boomers."
- The Victim: Labeled as "The Economy."
- The Line: "Why would Millennials do this?"
It’s a three-act play condensed into two grainy screenshots. It captures that specific feeling of watching someone set their own house on fire and then calling the fire department to complain that the neighbors didn't warn them.
Why Does This Meme Still Rank in 2026?
You'd think a meme from 2013 (that peaked in 2018) would be dead by now. It isn't. Mostly because humans never stop finding new ways to avoid accountability.
We’ve seen it used for history—think the British Empire shooting a colony and asking why the locals are so "unstable." We’ve seen it used for personal life, like me staying up until 4 AM scrolling through TikTok and then asking why my 8 AM alarm is so "aggressive."
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It’s the "Whoever smelt it, dealt it" of the digital age, but with more prop guns.
The Nuance of the Caption
Interestingly, there’s a bit of a Mandela Effect happening with the eric andre why would you do this meme. In the actual show, Eric says "Who killed Hannibal?"
However, the most popular versions of the meme changed the text to "Why would [X] do this?" or "How could [X] do this?"
Purists on Reddit used to get really annoyed about this. They argued that changing the quote ruined the timing of the joke. But the internet is a chaotic place. The "Why would you do this?" variation actually made the template more flexible. It allowed people to point the finger at specific groups or politicians more easily.
How to Use the Template Right
If you’re trying to make one that actually lands, you have to nail the irony.
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Don't use it for things that are just bad. Use it for things where the person complaining about the problem is the one who caused the problem.
- Corporate Example: A company fires its entire customer support team and then posts a LinkedIn survey asking, "Why has our customer satisfaction dropped so much?"
- Gaming Example: A player ignores the objective for twenty minutes to chase kills, loses the match, and then types "trash team" in the chat.
- Personal Example: Putting a metal bowl in the microwave and then asking why the kitchen is on fire.
What We Can Learn From Eric Andre
The genius of Eric Andre’s comedy is that it exposes the artificiality of television. By shooting his co-host and then asking who did it, he’s mocking the way media outlets and politicians often perform "shocker" news stories about problems they helped create.
It’s a cynical meme. Definitely. But it’s also a reality check. It forces us to look at the "Eric" in the situation—the person holding the gun—instead of just listening to the "Who killed Hannibal?" question.
If you're looking to find the original clip, search for "The Eric Andre Show Season 2 Episode 6 opening." Watching the way the audience reacts (or doesn't react) makes the whole thing even weirder. It’s a masterclass in surrealist humor that accidentally became the most useful political commentary of the decade.
Next time you see a headline that feels like a blatant redirection of blame, just picture Eric Andre in that gray suit. The meme isn't just a joke; it's a diagnostic tool for modern life.
Stop asking who killed Hannibal. We all saw the gun.