Kyle MacLachlan parodying Lorde's Instagram selfies, or the Kyle MacLachlan headphones meme, are photos of the actor mimicking singer Lorde's photos from an early 2024 Instagram post. The random imitation amused fans who were surprised MacLachlan followed Lorde, let alone closely enough to replicate her photos.
On Jan. 16, 2024, Lorde shared what fans believed to be the first hint at her fourth studio album. Sharing a pair of since-deleted selfies on her Instagram, she posed in headphones and wrote, "Listening to myself."
Hours later, Kyle MacLachlan—best known for his roles as Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks and Trey MacDougal in Sex and the City—shared photos on his Instagram recreating the same poses and borrowing her caption. He gave credit where it was due, tagging Lorde in his post.
Lorde commented on the post, writing, "I am....... speechless Kyle!" She also shared the moment on her Instagram Stories.
People questioned if there was a previous connection between the two public figures.
The Kyle MacLachlan meme didn't come entirely out of nowhere. If you follow the actor on Instagram or TikTok, you may be familiar with his affinity for embracing the latest in Gen Z pop culture.
The 64-year-old actor told TODAY.com in an interview on Jan. 26, 2024, that he measures his online success by whether or not his son, 16-year-old Callum, considers him "cringey."
Addressing the Lorde appreciation post, MacLachlan confirmed he doesn't know the singer personally, but is a fan.
"Other than an appreciation, no, we don't know each other at all. We just re-created these images—which I love doing. I had the striped shirt—I didn't have the pajamas, but I had the striped shirt, so that was good, and getting the right angles."
MacLachlan praised the singer for being "very funny and gracious" about his social media move. "I think she got that it was a fun thing that was not meant to mock or take the piss out of it at all. It was kind of an … appreciation post? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," he said.
He also addressed the meme in a Reddit AMA, where he was asked if more of this type of content was forthcoming. Referencing a Lorde song, he replied, "If you all give me the Green Light?"
In June 2024, MacLachlan revisited his Lorde fandom. He made a TikTok while on a walk, dancing and singing along to "Girl, So Confusing" by Charli XCX, featuring Lorde.
"The girl, so confusing remix and it’s the same but i made a music video to it so it’s not," he captioned his TikTok.
The unlikely pairing has led to a few different memes using the Kyle MacLachlan photos. In some, captions are just added to the recreated photos. In others, other photos of Lorde and MacLachlan are combined.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
The post How Kyle MacLachlan parodying Lorde’s selfies became an iconic meme appeared first on The Daily Dot.
