Introduction

The Woman Yelling at a Cat meme juxtaposes a screenshot from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills with an image of a confused cat, creating a humorous reaction format.

Background

The meme features a still of Taylor Armstrong, a cast member from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, yelling during a tense moment, alongside a photo of Smudge the Cat, who looks bewildered. This unique combination caught the internet's attention and gained traction in mid-June 2019.

How It Began

The origins trace back to December 5, 2011, during season two, episode 14 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, where Taylor Armstrong has an emotional breakdown while Kyle Richards attempts to console her. The following day, a Daily Mail article highlighted this moment, featuring a still of Armstrong in distress. On June 19, 2018, a Tumblr user shared a picture of Smudge the Cat, which quickly gained popularity. The cat's Instagram account, smudge_lord, was created on May 27, 2019.

Internet Reaction

The meme began to spread on Twitter on May 1, 2019, when a user posted both images together, leading to widespread engagement. The first meme based on this format appeared the next day, and Reddit users began creating variations shortly after. By June 9, 2019, the format had gained significant traction on Reddit, leading to a compilation of the best memes being published by EbaumsWorld in November 2019. A remix video featuring a different cat also gained substantial views on Facebook in October 2019.