Virtel is now trying to get the GOP to pull his image. “Seeing my image stolen and plastered up on a ‘funny’ GOP post fills me with contempt.” “I think the ways we represent ourselves-even in seemingly innocuous ways like a victory snap-are crucial,” Virtel told The Daily Beast.
That was until yesterday, when Louis’s face and fingers reappeared as a promotional vehicle, without his permission, for a GOP platform that has been fighting a wildly unpopular battle against equal rights for gay Americans. Since then, his social media fame burgeoned, just as his Jeopardy memes withered into the back of Google Image Search. But I hate, hate, hate that I didn’t just say ‘I’m gay’ on air.” “It all felt fantastic and organic, a reflection of my obsession with the show. Before the closing credits, I posed like Linda Evangelista with a ladylike arm in the air,” he wrote. “I snapped my fingers at the camera during my introduction I snapped again with full In Living Color gusto after I responded correctly on a Daily Double. When he became a resplendent (if temporary) gay icon on social media, he wrote about it all for his employer HitFix. The one with the most traction? When he snapped his fingers in victory after answering correctly on a Daily Double. Louis Virtel was a Jeopardy contestant who lent his face to a series of memes last year.
