Since the COVID-19 pandemic, people have flocked even more to the internet.
Social media numbers have risen with more pictures, viral dances, videos, and, of course, memes.
One meme has been getting a lot of attention and it goes by the name of Barry Wood or "Wood Sitting on a Bed".
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The image of an extremely well-endowed man sitting on his bed has been used in just about every type of meme from Oval office photos to board room meetings, schools, grocery stores...you name it.
The memes have gone viral across the globe.
But there's much more to the man in the picture than just what people see.
The viral research site, Know Your Meme, reported that Wood Sitting On a Bed, also known as Big Barry, is a photoshopped image of the now-deceased man, Wardy Joubert III, sitting on the edge of a bed looking at the camera with his penis exposed.
Joubert would have turned...
...50 this year.
The image has been used in bait and switch pranks and has been circulating since 2012, often associated with the name Barry. The image saw a resurgence in 2020 in fake messages regarding news about the coronavirus outbreak. The news site Vice later identified the man as Wardy, who died of a heart attack on December 11th, 2016 at the age of 45.
READ: 10 Things You Can Do To Prevent That Second Heart Attack
Where Did the Photo Come from?
Before July 2012, the gay porn website Pantheon Bear (later renamed to Hot Older Male) posted a photoshoot of Wood. The photoshoot included a photograph of Wood sitting naked on an edge of a bed, his legs spread apart (censored version shown below). A manipulated image, with Wood's penis enlarged, has been circulated starting in 2012.
Wardy Joubert III was born on August 30, 1971 in San Francisco. His stepmother, Karen Joubert, came into Wardy's life when he was a scrawny 14-year-old after she started dating his widowed father (Wardy's mom, Vera, died from Hodgkin's lymphoma when he was 11). Though it would be easy to assume that the nickname Wood was rooted in sexual innuendo, his stepmom told me that Wardy got that moniker as a kid playing baseball. When that lanky kid hit puberty, he bulked up seemingly overnight and used his stout frame and athletic ability to become a semi-pro football player, playing in arena football leagues after high school.
According to Vice, he was able to use his love of the game to work with a special football camp that does youth outreach and training. Wardy was a father of two, and a deacon at the St. Paul Tabernacle Baptist Church, always offering to pray for others, evangelizing on the street, and doing outreach work with his pastor. His friends and family say that he would regularly provide food for the homeless and was quick to help someone in need; his Herculean figure and warm personality made him a staple in his community.
Wardy was just 45 years old when he died of a heart attack on December 11, 2016. It was a shock. According to Alegria, Wardy was "healthy as a horse," shied away from drugs, only drank socially on occassion, and was a healthy eater. However, his heart had become enlarged, and "blew up on him," his ex-girlfriend explained.
Why His Death Affects Us All
In a 2009 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that African-Americans have a much higher incidence of heart failure than other races, and it develops at younger ages. Heart failure means that the heart isn't able to pump blood as well as it should.
Before age 50, African-Americans' heart failure rate is 20 times higher than that of whites, according to the study. Four risk factors are the strongest predictors of heart failure: high blood pressure (also called hypertension), chronic kidney disease, being overweight, and having low levels of HDL, the "good" cholesterol. Three-fourths of African-Americans who develop heart failure have high blood pressure by age 40. And 65 percent of black men over 40 are at high risk of heart attack.
READ: Under 45 With Prediabetes? Your Heart Attack Risk Is Rising
A GoFundMe page was set up by his girlfriend to help his family pay for his funeral. The comments on the GoFundMe page—which raised $10,555 for his funeral services—were sweet and funny, painting the picture of a big lug beloved by many. People mentioned his bear hugs and infectious laugh, and promised to keep unauthorized bottles and beverage containers out of the Foundry, the San Francisco event space he worked at as a bouncer, in his honor.
