Jessie Buckley Husband Ultimatum Sparks Backlash That Could Threaten Oscar Bid

Jessie Buckley clarified she once gave an ultimatum to a partner to remove his cats after a viral interview sparked pet-lover backlash that could hit her Oscar bid. Thursday at 9: 14 a. m. ET she told Jimmy Fallon she is a “lover of cats” and sought to explain the jessie buckley husband anecdote.

Jessie Buckley Husband Ultimatum and the Resurfaced Podcast Clip

The controversy began when a November interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast resurfaced, in which Buckley and co-star Paul Mescal said they preferred dogs; Mescal said, “Fuck cats, honestly. ” In that clip Buckley recounted giving her now-husband an ultimatum—”It’s me or the cats”—after one of his two cats allegedly defecated on a pillow. She later said, “I won. ” The jessie buckley husband anecdote went viral in the days that followed, prompting sharp online reaction from feline fans.

Jimmy Fallon Appearance and Buckley’s Cat Clarification

On Thursday Buckley returned to public remarks on Jimmy Fallon’s chatshow, calling the idea that she loathed cats a “misconception” and saying, “I am a lover of cats. I woke up this morning — does the world think that I really don’t love cats? And it’s really weighed on me all day. I felt sick. ” She also described auditioning for the 2019 film adaptation of the musical Cats, calling it the “worst audition” of her life and recounting physical gags from that tryout, including “licking my paws” and trying to “leap. “

Hamnet Awards Track and Oscar Date on 15 March

Buckley, 36, is widely favoured for her performance as Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet and has collected multiple awards for the role, including the Critics’ Choice, Golden Globe, Bafta and Actor awards. The resurfaced cat remarks and the subsequent social-media backlash have arrived as voting closes ahead of the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles on 15 March, a development that some commentators have suggested could influence perceptions ahead of the awards.

Responses have ranged from mockery to anger; one columnist said he had not seen Hamnet and joked he would “build a time machine and go back and give it a skip. ” The episode has also mirrored a recent wider moment in which other performers faced online backlash for offhand comments about pets.

Closing: The next confirmed event is the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles on 15 March at 8: 00 p. m. ET.