Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt is catching heat for uploading a post that played off of "Hot Girl Summer," only with the original phrase crossed out and replaced with a list of substitutes.
Many social media users were not here for it.
hot girl summer literally means all of the things listed….. smh
— Nivea STAN account. (@shawnbrielle) July 14, 2021
the comments though. ???? pic.twitter.com/smzm91TYCj
— excessively black geriatric millennial (@TheProBlackGirl) July 14, 2021
The point is that they don’t know we made it. As soon as it left Meg’s mouth, tabloids and marketing firms picked it up and milked it. That milking separated it from Meg and from blackness, making it something to be taken and mocked and remixed by white ppl
— Absolute Dream ❤️????☁️✨ (@inefertitif) July 14, 2021
She confidently posted that as if “hot girl summer” and everything below that were mutually exclusive ?????? like don’t piss me off. pic.twitter.com/famdFdqFMm
— sin sentido (@Mochacoffeee) July 14, 2021
The phrase "Hot Girl Summer" was coined by Megan Thee Stallion and skyrocketed into pop culture vernacular following the release of her song, Hot Girl Summer, featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign in 2019.
"Being a Hot Girl is about being unapologetically YOU, having fun, being confident,living YOUR truth, being the life of the party etc," the Houston native explained in a tweet.
Being a Hot Girl is about being unapologetically YOU, having fun, being confident,living YOUR truth , being the life of the party etc
— TINA SNOW (@theestallion) July 17, 2019
She really said “all summers matter”
— king bezos (@sailorsookie) July 14, 2021
Yt folks are the ones that turned hot girl summer into another get thin quick message. It was never about that.
— calamansi juice (@izzmythoughts) July 14, 2021
It’s giving this energy pic.twitter.com/6j530FUupJ
— Cleo. (@theKelizabeth82) July 14, 2021
she need to be quiet she ain’t had work in 52 years
— JADAEH (@badbxtch222) July 14, 2021
Crossing out a slogan made for and by black women to assert their pride, and power, in the world, and suggesting that it should be "grateful girl summer" instead is some extremely mayo on untoasted wonder bread shit https://t.co/dRMKcL5wPs
— BankPads (@BankPads) July 14, 2021
Ultimately, as the term "Hot Girl Summer" became increasingly popular, Megan Thee Stallion opted to get the phrase trademarked.
"I really didn't even know that it was gonna catch on how it did. It was just me talking shit, telling everybody I was gonna be me for the summer, and they should be them too, like as free as they can be," Megan said in an interview with Allure. "When I saw Wendy's and Forever 21 saying, 'Hey, are you having a Hot Girl Summer?' I was like, 'Hell no, Forever 21, you're going to have to pay me.' But I just wanted to get it trademarked because it's me. It's my thing."
