If you’re scrolling through TikTok and you come across a video with a sound that starts with “If you just opened this, like I told you to…” just know that you’re in for a wild ride. This audio (which, fair warning, is vulgar!) began trending on TikTok in early 2025, but it’s actually quoting a wildly viral moment that happened over a decade ago. So, if you’ve been seeing this TikTok trend but don’t know the backstory, here’s the tea.
The year is 2013. The sorority is Delta Gamma — specifically, the DG at the University of Maryland. Rebecca Martinson, then-chairperson of her chapter was, in no uncertain terms, pissed off. So, she did what many incense Greek life members did during a time before receipts, proof, and timelines were top of mind for everyone at every moment: she wrote an email.
Beginning with the aforementioned iconic line: “If you just opened this, like I told you to…” Martinson goes on to explain in explicit and excruciatingly detail how her sorority is boring and (gasp) not connecting well with frats at their schools. beyond messing up in front of frats. The email is wildly offensive and insulting, though not necessarily rare for that time period. However, what made it stand out was the fact that it got leaked.
The virality that followed Martinson’s decision to press “send” cannot be overstated. The message made the rounds on mega-popular cultural commentary sites of the time like Gawker and Deadspin. Michael Shannon, an actor in such films as Take Shelter and Knives Out, read the email on the comedy website Funny or Die, which took the email to a whole new level of fame. (And yes, that’s whose voice you’re hearing in the now-trending TikTok audio all these years later.)
As for Martinson? Well, she lost her place as chairperson after that email. But then again, her email is even credited for inspiring Emma Roberts’s character in “Scream Queens.” So, you know, there’s that.