Quibi died as it lived: as the butt of absolutely everybody’s jokes.
Yes, the streaming service devoted solely to “quick bites” of short-form content, and that launched just six months ago after raising almost $2 billion, is shutting down. On one hand it’s terrible to see what is reported to be a couple hundred people losing their jobs during a pandemic that has hit the entertainment industry hard, not to mention the creators and artists who are now out of paying gigs. On the other hand, though, Quibi was such a transparently awful idea, and launched with such hubris by extremely wealthy business persons Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, that it’s a little hard to not find some humor in its massive failure. (Not to mention that the whole 11 minute episode cap also helped Quibi get around union regulations.) America loves a colossal business fuck-up, and Quibi’s about as colossal a business fuck-up as we’ve seen in ages.
So yes: Twitter immediately lit up with jokes about the death of the already roundly mocked and dismissed streaming service. Some of them are even kind of funny. Here are the best of the lot—the funniest tweets about Quibi shutting down after only six months.
how many quibis did quibi last for?
— Anna Roisman (@AnnaRoisman) October 21, 2020
I did the math and Quibi lasted for exactly 28,584 Quibis.
— Zach O’Lantern (@zachheltzel) October 21, 2020
The pandemic lasted longer than Quibi
— kai choyce (@kaichoyce) October 21, 2020
do you guys think Quibi and Seeso are hanging out in heaven right now
— Megh Wright (@megh_wright) October 21, 2020
Quibi ruled. Creatives got paid, rich people got less rich and more humiliated. Quibi was praxis.
— Barry Petchesky (@barry) October 21, 2020
The Social Network but it’s the Quibi people suing each other, both claiming it was not their idea
— Dan Perlman (@danjperlman) October 18, 2020
I grew up on Quibi. I was a latchkey kid whose parents let Quibi raise me
— Scary Clairey (@clairecdowns) October 21, 2020
I remember pitching a kids show to Quibi last year and during the conversation, they asked me what I thought Quibi should be. I replied “A streaming service that buys my show?” Anyway, RIP.
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) October 21, 2020
feel like celebrities treated Quibi the way writers do airline/luxury magazines: fat check AND no one will ever notice whatever embarrassing shit you agreed to
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) October 21, 2020
Sad to hear about the demise of TikTok Except Expensive and Condescending whoops I mean Quibi
— Dan Telfer (@dantelfer) October 21, 2020
Quibi didn’t last a Seeso
— RheA C A Butcher (@RheaButcher) October 21, 2020
say what you will about Quibi as a business model but look at how deeply it managed to pervade the popular lexicon in such a short time, eg. “I’m going to Quibi a video movie”, “that’s very Quibi of you”, “hey, I’m Quibi over here”
— thomas violence (@thomas_violence) October 21, 2020
I just pitched Zoom Dick to Quibi yesterday and they loved it 🙁
— Desi (@DesiJed) October 21, 2020
ultimately the quickest bite was quibi herself
— Sophia Benoit (@1followernodad) October 21, 2020
Quibi probably gave more money to real comedians in the last year than that little comedy channel will over the next three.
— mike mulloy (@fakemikemulloy) October 21, 2020
You can all poke fun, but for those of us who were at Quibi during the heyday, it was a singular experience. Money the likes of which we’d never seen. Babes around every corner. And the user data flowed like wine. It was spiritual. It was happening. It was…Quibi. RIP, babe.
— Allen Strickland Williams (@TotallyAllen) October 21, 2020
my pitch to investors: give me a small fraction of the $1.8B you gave the quibi founders and i will deliver you the same results. this is actually a very good deal for you.
— maya kosoff (@mekosoff) October 21, 2020
this tweet is more successful than Quibi https://t.co/YMRMOLDh3t
— Molly Lambert (@mollylambert) October 21, 2020
Pour one out. Then pour the same one out horizontallyhttps://t.co/AYUDXQ6AbZ
— Scott Gairdner (@scottgairdner) October 21, 2020
Quibi’s last wishes were to be buried vertically.
— Will Goss (@williambgoss) October 21, 2020
.@Quibi Can I have the cannon that shoots food at you
— Richard Lawson (@rilaws) October 21, 2020
Quibi made their “episodes” 11 minutes to avoid paying union writers. Everyone should MC Hammer dance on their grave.
— Jawn Wick (@LukeXCunningham) October 21, 2020
I can’t decide if the imminent end of my joke domain ownership is more or less poignant now that Quibi is potentially near its own end, but in any case, please enjoy https://t.co/wfnAXW7H9e while it’s still live
— Alexis Gunderson (@AlexisKG) October 21, 2020
I have been waiting to make Quibi jokes for 234,345 Quibis.
— Matt “Very Scary Ghost” Rogers (@MattRogersTho) October 21, 2020
Make fun of it all you want, but Quibi’s Golden Arm wound up being a parable for Quibi’s entire business.pic.twitter.com/KRm0aA7XX0
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) October 21, 2020
I’m not gonna tell the Quibi people how to do their jobs but if you wanted to raise $1.8 billion to invest in something destined to fail you should’ve just bought the Jets.
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) October 21, 2020
— Carrie Wittmer (@carriesnotscary) October 21, 2020
Quibi hired a lot of comedians and paid them well while also bankrupting meg whitman, so that’s a huge success in my eyes
— dolphin pilot (@TheAmitie) October 21, 2020
This is mean but let’s all download and install Quibi today.
— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) October 21, 2020
ME WATCHING NETFLIX’S 8 HOUR NARRATIVE DOCU-SERIES ABOUT QUIBI: this would be perfect in quick bites
— F. Scott Fitzgowsky (@ScottRogowsky) October 21, 2020
Imagine, if the pandemic hadn’t happened, we’d all just be out and about, on the go, slamming Quibi after Quibi
— Alena Smith (@internetalena) October 15, 2020
Imagine, if the pandemic hadn’t happened, we’d all just be out and about, on the go, slamming Quibi after Quibi
— Alena Smith (@internetalena) October 15, 2020