The Story Behind the ‘Shining’ Couple That Became a Trump-Clinton Meme

It was a big weekend for the stars of The Shining. No, not Jack Nicholson, or Shelley Duvall, or Scatman Crothers, or even that kid with the haunted finger that sounds like Harvey Fierstein. We're talking about the old-timey furry and the well-dressed ghost he goes down on. 

In one of the most randomly unnerving moments in Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece, Wendy Torrance (Duvall) is terrorized by the Overlook Hotel’s phantom guests. At one point she stumbles upon a couple, one wearing a tuxedo, and the other a bear costume. To be fair, they don’t seem angry or vengeful, just slightly put out by the interruption. Although, if they genuinely wanted privacy, they probably wouldn’t have left the door wide open.

As anyone who’s been on the internet recently is likely already aware, a recent batch of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein contained an email from his brother Mark in which he suggested that Epstein ask Steve Bannon “if Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba.” Many folks interpreted this as a reference to ex-president Bill Clinton, whose nickname is famously “Bubba.” 

Naturally, social media was soon flooded with Trump-Clinton oral sex jokes, including screengrabs of the two Overlook residents, sometimes with their faces replaced with those belonging to the politicians. 

It even popped up on Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” segment, with Michael Che noting that, regardless of the rumor’s veracity, the image would forever be burned in his brain “like that scene from The Shining.”

While the details of the Epstein email are still shrouded in mystery, we do at least have some info that might explain the Kubrick movie.

Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich, who co-wrote the comprehensive making-of book Stanley Kubrick's The Shining told Variety that he couldn’t find any behind-the-scenes info about the scene. “The odd moment of the guy in the bear costume giving the guy a blowjob on the bed when Shelley’s running around? No answers on why he chose to put that in,” Unkrich admitted.

And the film’s co-screenwriter Diane Johnson was similarly baffled. “It’s not in King. It was nothing that we ever discussed – it came out of Kubrick’s imagination, as far as I know,” she stated.

But others have theorized that the moment was likely inspired by a scene from the Stephen King book involving the character of Horace Derwent, who used to own the Overlook. We learn that someone named Roger became infatuated with Derwent after the two spent a weekend together in Cuba. Derwent later told Roger that he might “reconsider” a second hook-up, but only if Roger showed up to the Overlook’s masked ball dressed up as a “cute little doggy.”

In the novel, it’s Wendy’s son Danny who encounters Roger’s ghost, and overhears him telling Horace: “Get it up, Harry you bitch-bastard! I don’t care how many casinos and airlines and movie studios you own! I know what you like in the privacy of your own h-home! Get it up! I’ll huff… and I’ll puff… until Harry Derwent’s all bloowwwwn down!”

After the email about Trump blew up online (pun not intended), Mark Epstein stated that the “Bubba” he was referring to was not Bill Clinton. Since he neglected to reveal the identity of the real Bubba, some people now seem to believe that it may have been a literal horse. 

And it’s pretty wild to think that the horse would be the less politically-damaging option.