Smith sent shock waves through social media after taking to the stage at the 94th annual Academy Awards to strike Rock across the face after the comedian cracked an ill-advised joke about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith.
In the wake of the incident, Twitter was awash with any number of memes chronicling everything from the stunned reactions of the various stars in attendance to the eerie similarities the confrontation shared with a skit from the animated series Family Guy.
Now the fallout has filtered through to TikTok, where a video of a cat swatting at a man quickly prompted many to draw parallels with Smith’s actions at the Oscars.
In the video, which was shared to by Ashlyn Lamb and has already been viewed 4 million times, a man can be seen walking past a mantelpiece above a fireplace where an ginger cat sits inside a cardboard box.
The cat is evidently none too happy about the man’s close proximity and lashes out, swatting at his face as he passes. But, much like Smith himself, it’s something the feline soon lives to regret, with the force of his slap sending the cardboard box, with him inside, tumbling to the ground.
Writing alongside the video, Lamb described the incident as “Karma at its finest.”
However, for many on TikTok, the clip shared more similarities with Smith’s slap on Rock. As Jody Penner put it: “He Will Smithed him,” with rob_santos91 concluding that the cat “must have watched the Oscars.” Pettysetg0 said the feline’s actions reminded them of “that Will Smith slap,” and Kcastenada agreed, writing that the “cat was inspired” by the incident.
Christina Zarz quipped: “When there’s a Will (Smith), there’s a way,” with assafar dubbing the grumpy cat “Will Smith reincarnated.” In a re-post of the clip, thecoldestt32 wrote: “That cat pulled a Will Smith,” with a confused yungrichez jokingly commenting: “Will Smith and Chris Rock look different here.”
According to a reply posted by Lamb, the cat had been hitting the man “every time” he walked by. “Didn’t know he would fall this time,” she said.
Newsweek has contacted Lamb for comment.
Cat welfare charity International Cat Care says that feline aggression of this kind is relatively common.
“Aggressive responses seen in pet cats are closely related to the natural behavior of the species and are a normal part of predation, play and social conflict,” the charity states.
“However, if cats start to show aggression towards humans then this would constitute ‘problem behavior.’ It then becomes important to establish the cat’s motivation for this behavior and whether, in the context, it is normal or abnormal.”
According to International Cat Care, this aggression can be born out of feelings of fear, anxiety, frustration and social pressures. It may also be the result of inappropriate play and, in rare instances, can be caused by illness or pain.
In this instance, the cat was likely triggered by the sight of a relatively unknown individual, the man, in their personal space.
The charity recommends that any pet owner still unable to identify the root cause of their cat’s behavior visit their local veterinarian.
