Comedian Kajun Brooking shocked by reaction to his Te Reo meme

  • 26/07/2022

A comedian has been shocked by the mixed response to a Te Reo meme he posted on social media. 

Comedian Kajun Brooking posted the meme on Twitter at the beginning of July, which said: "How Te Reo speaking Maori look at the rest of us Hori's". 

Brooking said the idea for the meme came after an interaction with a woman who asked him for help in Māori. When he told the woman he couldn't speak the language, "she actually looked quite disappointed in me". 

Brooking told The Hui on Monday the woman's reaction was a "little bit startling" for him because he believes people who can't speak Te Reo find it "actually quite shameful".

"I made the meme and put it up and thought it would get a few hits and several people would like it but I didn't think it would blow up like it did," he told The Hui.

"Some of the stuff that surprised me the most was that it kind of split the room. There were people who were having a good old laugh, then there were others who I think may have found it funny but they might have also thought it was targeted at them and might've taken it a little bit personally." 

Watch the full video above.