The owner of Pepe the Frog, the Internet cartoon sensation that has become synonymous with the alt-right movement and Donald Trump supporters, is trying to reclaim his creation.
The Anti-Defamation League announced Friday that it is partnering with artist Matt Furie to rescue Pepe from being used as a “symbol of hate.”
“Pepe was never intended to be used as a symbol of hate,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. “The sad frog was meant to be just that, a sad frog. We are going to work with Matt and his community of artists reclaim Pepe so that he might be used as a force for good, or at the very least to help educate people about the dangers of prejudice and bigotry.”
Furie first introduced Pepe to the Internet in “Boy’s Club” cartoons in 2005 as a mischievous frog that looks perpetually stoned. Only later was it picked up by Internet trolls using the online community 4chan, who took the character to a whole new oftentimes inappropriate level.
In September, the Anti-Defamation League added the Internet meme to its database of hate symbols.
The group said on Friday that Furie will create a series of “positive Pepe memes and messages, which ADL will promote on its social media channels with the hashtag, #SavePepe.”
“It’s completely insane that Pepe has been labeled a symbol of hate, and that racists and anti-Semites are using a once peaceful frog-dude from my comic book as an icon of hate,” Furie said in a press release. “It’s a nightmare, and the only thing I can do is see this as an opportunity to speak out against hate.
Furie told Esquire last month that he is voting for Hillary Clinton.
