'Happened in just a matter of hours': Lawyer with cat filter becomes overnight sensation

A Texas lawyer rose to overnight fame following the cat-mishap during a virtual court session on zoom. In a world that is rocked with COVID-19 pandemic for over a year and ‘zoom-fatigued’ becoming the new-found feeling for thousands of employees trying to meet the ends in the professional life through video conferences and meeting, video of Rod Ponton appearing as a cat during the court session has received overwhelming love by people across the globe. From relating to the Texas lawyer as he can be heard in the viral video saying ‘I’m not a cat’ and that he is trying to ‘uncat himself’ to how his colleagues point out the mishap, netizens found ‘everything about the video’ relatable. 

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Subjected to fame and becoming a celebrity on social media platforms following the February 10 clip, Ponton told BBC that he did not know the popular video-calling app, Zoom could turn him into a cat. Still adjusting to the popularity, the Texas lawyer told the media outlet, “I did not know that Zoom could turn me into a cat. I did not know that cat Zoom could turn me into an internet celebrity, but it all happened in just a matter of hours” before adding that he is trying to “roll with it”.

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'Everything seemed fine'

At one instance in the viral video, Ponton can be heard telling his assistant who was trying to rectify the issue that “I’m here live, I’m not a cat”. While relaying his own experience of the zoom call that recorded the ‘cat-tastrophe’, Ponton said that when he got into the meeting, “everything seemed fine”. He told the media outlet on Wednesday, “When I got on Zoom everything seemed fine - my picture popped up, I was in the waiting room with the judge. But when the judge called the case, I disappeared and a cat appeared instead of me to my great surprise of course”. 

The video was first shared by Judge Roy Ferguson on social media with advice for people to switch off filters. The Texas lawyer also reportedly said that the judge in the session took the incident in ‘good humour’. Ponton said, “I think anybody who has ever struggled with a computer or Zoom can recognise that those kinds of things can happen”. However, following internet users posting the video across social media platforms, he acknowledged the flurry of emails and phone calls he received.

Ponton told the outlet, “In Texas we have a phrase that you can't put toothpaste back in the tube. If this was going to become an internet sensation I just had to laugh at myself along with everybody else doing so." Watch:

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