Nearly two weeks ago in the Memphis subreddit, the eagle-eyed u/theunnamedban spotted a Memphis University School (MUS) Owls T-shirt worn by a character in the movie, Adult Best Friends.
They wondered why. We figured we could, at least, try to solve this Minor Memphis Mystery. We did.
Delaney Buffett co-wrote, directed, and stars in the 2024 film. Her character, also named Delaney, is seen wearing the Owls T-shirt.
Reddit user u/UofMtigers2014 laid out some totally plausible reasons for the shirt’s appearance in the film.
“Two possible reasons: (1) it was filmed in Mississippi so maybe someone on crew in responsible,” reads the comment. “(2) It was filmed in with HBO, who shares a studio with Warner Brothers (WB). If there’s nobody on the crew responsible for this, maybe it was in their costume department as a donation from Henry Gayden, who went to MUS, and wrote the two ‘Shazam’ movies, distributed by WB.”
Other Reddit users thought there might be a connection with Buffett’s dad, Jimmy Buffett, and his time spent in Nashville early in his career.
Turns out the answer is not so satisfying.
“There is zero connection except I borrowed it from my mom’s friend who has a vintage T-shirt collection,” Buffett said in an email. “But amazing to know the origins of it :).”
Adult Best Friends is now streaming on Max, or HBO Max, or HBO, or whatever HBO is calling itself these days.
If you have an idea for Minor Memphis Mysteries and you think we can help, please send an email to toby@memphisflyer.com.
