LIVEHistory of Pepe the Frog
Pepe the Frog is a cartoon character that was created by artist Matt Furie for his comic book “Boy’s Club,” which was first published in 2005. Pepe, who was characterized as a peaceful and good-natured frog, became a popular internet meme and was widely shared across various social media platforms.
During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, however, the character was co-opted by various online communities and used in numerous memes that spread hate speech, racist ideologies, and other forms of discriminatory content. In response, Furie partnered with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to reclaim the character’s original, more positive context through various means, including a “Save Pepe” campaign.
Although Matt Furie has the legal right to seek compensation for any commercial use of his creation, he does not appear to be actively pursuing copyright claims against the creators of Pepe Coin at this time.
