TikTok’s latest viral trend, “holy airball,” is helping people laugh through their biggest romantic misfires. Inspired by basketball blooper clips, users pair footage of missed shots with personal stories about moments when they botched a potential relationship, or anything else in life, really. The trend blew up in May 2025, and the hashtag #holyairball has already racked up over 143,000 videos.
@_oliviaminor i promise i eventually clean it…
♬ ECE Marketing Airball – EC Equine Marketing
What is the “holy airball” trend on TikTok?
Holy airball TikTok videos tell a tale of romantic failure in three parts. First is the setup, typically an innocent statement by the target of attraction or an attempt to initiate romance. Part two is either a poor response by the pursuer or a rejection. “Holy airball” comes last, usually with footage of a basketball player shooting and missing.
In one of the earlier examples of the meme, from Dec. 8, 2024, @jerkxyita plays a clip of a guy with his arm around a young woman. He tries to go in for a kiss, but she pulls away. The TikTok user follows up with multiple shots of basketball players missing the whole basket.
This sequence mocks those have failed to land with their move with the term “airball,” a common basketball term describing shots that are so off mark, they don’t even hit the rim or net. The trend adds the word “holy” for emphasis, borrowing from phrases like “holy cow.”
As the meme took off in May 2025, it expanded beyond romantic foul-ups, but that topic still makes up the majority of the videos.
@annadelveyisnotreal Someone else told me to post this asap
♬ ECE Marketing Airball – EC Equine Marketing
A movie star adds to the meme
One viral example of the holy airball meme from TikToker @kaceystiktok gained 8.3 million views in three days. The brief conversation between her and a prospective paramour went like this:
“I told him I was in a movie. He said ‘oh, like an extra in the background?’”
@kaceystiktok Secrets out 🤭 lol #holyairball #fyp #trending #thehangover #movie #airball #funny #foryoupage #survivor ♬ ECE Marketing Airball – EC Equine Marketing
Rather than the usual basketball footage, this user reveals that she was the little girl who flipped off Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover by playing the clip under the hashtag #holyairball.
“Secrets out lol,” she wrote in the video description.
Kacey later posted a follow-up video explaining how she was discovered in a mall as a little girl and did background acting for several TV shows and films before getting the call for The Hangover. As it turns out, the director hadn’t planned for her to give the finger initially, but someone came up with the idea during filming, and now it’s an iconic moment in movie history.
@kaceystiktok Replying to @Antonio Sierra #storytime #thehangover #fyp ♬ original sound – Kacey
“I didn’t even realize it was going to blow up the way it did,” she said.
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