Jessie Buckley knows now: Thou shalt not cross the cat

One may anger critics, fans, or even the venerable Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but one can only anger cat lovers at one’s peril. A now-viral anecdote by Jessie Buckley, widely tipped for Oscar glory for playing Shakespeare’s wife Agnes in Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, has led to a belated digital inquisition against the Irish actor. On the Happy Sad Confused podcast in November, Buckley recalled giving her then-boyfriend — now husband — an ultimatum over his pets, one of whom seemed to have taken an irrational dislike to her: “It’s me or the cats.” The cats lost the tug of war. That single act of heartlessness might, the cat brigade has pointed out, lead to the 36-year-old losing out on the Oscars as feline retribution.

Buckley has since attempted a diplomatic retreat, explaining that she not only once auditioned for the 2019 musical, Cats, but also, in fact, remains a committed cat lover. Unfortunately, the court of public opinion is rarely moved by belated declarations of allegiance — evidence is considered only insofar as it confirms guilt or prejudice. Or, to put it in Shakespeare’s words, “The lady doth protest too much.”

The fandom of cats, of course, is not a modern phenomenon. In ancient Egypt, cats were associated with the goddess Bastet, protector of hearth and home. Killing a cat, even by accident, was punishable by death. Owners shaved their eyebrows as a mark of grief when a family cat died, ending the mourning period only when their eyebrows grew back. When it comes to cats, not much has changed except raised brows replacing shaved ones. Cats, after all, enjoy the ultimate tentpole advantage: Nine lives and an audience predisposed to root for them. That leaves the human on the decidedly shakier footing.