Rami Malek's celebrity status has been a bit rocky since the release of the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
Not only did the film receive mostly negative reviews, but Malek was also caught up in an awkward moment when he fumbled what should have been a relatively straightforward answer to whether Mercury was a gay icon.
Now he has unwittingly become a meme thanks to a rather bizarre interaction with a fan, who was hoping that he could give a video shout out to a few of her friends.
The 37-year-old actor wasn't a big fan of that idea but was happy to take a selfie. Except it didn't quite work out like that, and the result wasn't exactly what the fan, going by the Twitter name of xan, would have been hoping for.
THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST EMBARRASSING THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO ME https://t.co/qIesyA3eWQ— xan black (slow) 🎬 (@xan black (slow) 🎬) 1540861670
That's quite strange behaviour from a big star, but we can't begrudge someone wanting a little bit of privacy, even if it doesn't shine the most positive light on Malek.
Things became more surreal when xan revealed that Malek actually scrolled through the options on her phone to make sure she wasn't recording a video.
i worded this wrong he didnt take a photo OF HIMSELF- i meant he swiped the camera options until it was on “Photo”… https://t.co/d12QowH0g7— xan black (slow) 🎬 (@xan black (slow) 🎬) 1540866216
The video was only shared on Twitter a few hours ago and has already been viewed more than 700,000 times and retweeted more than 6,000 times.
Most people are divided on how they feel that Malek should have reacted to the request.
Then the memes started to arrive and let's just say that Twitter had a field day.
Others tried to defend Malek.
@enemyfiIm Why is everyone acting like he was super rude, he politely said no and said they could take a picture, y’all dramatic— 𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐢 (@𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐢) 1540876398
The majority of people had a lot of empathy for xan, who admired her for not completely collapsing under a sea of embarrassment when he said 'no'.
@enemyfiIm ASJKAK girl you would so shook when he said no. You deserve better :( https://t.co/3Pb0x4mFTA— ♡ Rossie ♡ (@♡ Rossie ♡) 1540865749