How to Do TikTok's Viral "Pass the Phone" Challenge

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Trend expert Shayan Faraz explains the latest TikTok trend that’s all about roasting your friends

Co-authored by Luke Smith, MFA Reviewed by Shayan Faraz

Last Updated: December 15, 2025 Fact Checked

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• Challenge Explained
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• Origin
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• How to Do It
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• Challenge Ideas
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• Video

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If you’ve been on TikTok, you’ve probably seen people saying, “I’m passing the phone to someone who…” It’s part of the Pass the Phone Challenge, a fun viral trend that’s all about roasting your friends, and which started in 2021. We talked to trend expert Shayan Faraz to help us explain the trend and how it started, as well as how to participate with your own friends.

What is the Pass the Phone Challenge?

Trend expert Shayan Faraz says that the Pass the Phone Challenge is a viral TikTok trend where people make comments about each other on video while passing the phone around. To do it, people say “I’m passing the phone to someone who…” and then insert a light jab at a friend. Then, they give the phone to that friend.

Steps

Section 1 of 4:

What is the Pass the Phone Challenge?

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1. 
   “Pass the Phone” is a TikTok trend where friends diss each other. Faraz says, “The ‘Pass the Phone’ challenge on TikTok is a trend where a group of people will make comments about each other on video and pass the phone around. This trend is meant to joke, expose, or make fun of friends in a group setting.”

   • To do the challenge, people record themselves with a group of friends. The first person says, “I’m passing the phone to someone who…” and then they insert a scathing diss about a friend. That friend gets the phone, and they do the same to another friend. Eventually, the video is posted to social media for other people to see and enjoy.
   • “Many famous content creators have also done their own versions of the trend, contributing to its popularity,” says Faraz. He shares this video where Mr. Beast and other content creators get in on the fun, pointing out that it has over 270 million views.
   • The trend has also attracted well-known names including MLB Players and actor Will Smith.
   • Faraz also shares a Pass the Phone video from the eSports group FaZe, as well as this one from @thedavisfamily.4, where a couple roasts each other back and forth.

   Meet the wikiHow Expert

   Shayan Faraz (or Chum as he’s known online) is a content creator with over 35,000 followers on his TikTok page @chummertok. His videos analyze internet culture and viral trends.
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Section 2 of 4:

Where did the challenge start?

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1. 
   The challenge became popular in 2021. It’s hard to say who exactly created the challenge, but the earliest significant video about the challenge comes from TikTok user @morganroyyy, who did the challenge with her cheerleading squad in February 2021. The video hit big with more than 600,000 views, popularizing the challenge and inspiring thousands of people to join in and make their own.

   • Faraz says that the trend became popular because it’s “easily shareable and takes low effort to film.”
   • After that, the number of Pass the Phone Challenge videos on TikTok exploded, suggesting this is where the trend really took off.

Section 3 of 4:

Doing the Challenge

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1. 
   1
   Gather some friends who are down for some light roasting. The Pass the Phone challenge involves making light (but insulting) jabs at your friends, so get together with some people who can take the heat. Grab a single friend and pass the phone back and forth, or gather a large group of friends and let everyone roast each other. There’s no limit to how many people can participate.

   • Or, if you’re not in the same room, feel free to just record the first video, then drop it in a group chat and encourage your friends to record their own.
2. 
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   Say “I’m passing the phone to someone who…” and roast a friend. Faraz says to start the challenge by saying, “I’m passing the phone to someone who…” Then, “make a comment about the person [you] will pass the phone to.” Fill in the blank with something scathing but still joking.

   • The key to roasting your friends is making sure you say something that will make them laugh, too, not just whatever makes people laugh at them. Remember, we’re all having fun, and now isn’t the time for beef.
     • Example: “I’m passing the phone to someone who failed his driving test 3 times.”
     • Example: “I’m passing the phone to someone who once burnt water.”
     • Example: “I’m passing the phone to someone who thought eggs were vegetarian.”
3. 
   3
   Give that friend the phone and let them roast the next person. Hand the phone to the person you just roasted. Then, Faraz says, they’ll deliver their own message about the person they’re handing the phone to. Continue the cycle with the rest of the group.

   • The process repeats until everyone’s had a chance to roast someone, and everyone’s been roasted.
   • Feel free to record it in one continuous video and edit out the awkward bits (like actually passing the phone) later, or record many little snippets and edit them all together.
4. 
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   Edit and share the video online. Once everyone’s had a turn, use TikTok’s video editor (or use CapCut) to splice together multiple videos until everyone is featured. Then, post the video to TikTok (or your social media of choice) with the hashtag #Passthephone so that other people can watch, enjoy, and share it! You might even go viral.
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Section 4 of 4:

Pass the Phone Challenge Ideas

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1. 
   Use these Pass the Phone lines to get started. Not sure what to say? While it’s best to come up with your own personalized roasts, everyone needs help getting the gears turning now and then. Take a look at these prompt ideas to use as inspiration:

   • I’m passing the phone to someone who thought Asia was a country.
   • I’m passing the phone to someone who only dates men who look like giraffes.
   • I’m passing the phone to someone who still has to check left vs. right on their hands.
   • I’m passing the phone to someone who once got sick from drinking CapriSuns.
   • I’m passing the phone to someone who can’t make a free throw to save their life.
   • I’m passing the phone to someone who faked being sick to get out of lacrosse practice.
   • I’m passing the phone to someone who was fired for being on their phone.
   • I’m passing the phone to someone who was banned from Chuck E Cheese for attacking Chuck E Cheese.

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