'Woman Yelling At Cat' Meme And 'Real Housewives' Star Taylor Armstrong On The Meme's Tragic Backstory, 'Baby There's No Plane' And More

In May 2019, a Twitter user made meme history by uploading a photo of Real Housewives star Taylor Armstrong yelling next to a photo of Smudge the cat grimacing at a plate of salad.

On that day, the "Woman Yelling at a Cat" meme was born, and six years later, the format is still widely used online.

Despite the meme's massive virality, many don't know the full context behind the image of Taylor pointing and screaming while her co-star, Kyle Richards, holds her back.

In reality, the meme comes from a dark time in Armstrong's life, and so does her most recent memeable moment in which she tells her daughter, "Baby there's no plane."

We connected with Taylor Armstrong to ask her for the full story behind the memes, what it's like to be known as the "Woman Yelling at A Cat" and find out what she's up to now.

Q: It's great to talk with you, Taylor. So can you explain how you got involved with The Real Housewives?

A: So the original six of us were cast together. I was really good friends with Adrienne Maloof and Lisa Vanderpump lived across the street from her. I was friends with another friend of Camille’s and Kyle, so when they were first casting for The Real Housewives they had 7,000 people go out for it. I didn’t even know about the casting but some of my friends were following it, so the producers contacted me and said, “Oh we’ve heard your name from some of your friends,” so they asked me to come in for a casting call. It was only going to be five of us in the beginning and then Kyle talked to Camille. They added her at the last minute so she became the sixth.

I was on the original cast, seasons one through three, and then I went back and did a couple of cameos in season four or five. Five, I think. Then I went on The Real Housewives of Orange County, I was the first housewife to switch cities. Then I went on OC a couple of years ago.

The reason I left Real Housewives, though, was because I went through a lot of tragedy in my life, which speaks a lot to the meme, which we can get into. But after season three I moved away to get away from the press and all of the drama around my real life.

Q: What was it like being on a reality show back then as social media was really starting to kick off?

A: When I was on The Real Housewives, it was only Twitter back then. That was a huge adjustment because people were either super positive about us or extremely critical and it took some getting used to for sure. I remember some of the things that were said were just so horrendous I couldn’t actually believe a person was writing them. It was extremely hurtful and then I just had to stop looking at it. Just tried to comment to people but did not read everything because it was so toxic.

I feel like Instagram is better, I don’t think people are as cruel on Instagram as when Twitter first came out and they were hiding behind their phones. So that took some getting used to. When I would go on Housewives, we had a lot of paparazzi. I think everybody with their cellphones now, there’s a lot less paparazzi, but we used to have tons of paparazzi around us, especially because it was a brand new show and of course, LA is the mecca of paparazzi. So, that took a little bit of getting used to as well, especially because I had a four-year-old girl at the time, so having them chase us around when I was with my child was a little overwhelming.

Back then it was definitely worse. I remember some of the horrible things people said about me and Kyle it was just so hurtful I couldn’t imagine there was actually a person who could think it and type it and press send to someone. So that took some getting used to and we had a blast.

I do wish that on Housewives you would see more of the fun, but I recognize that the drama is what gets the ratings. But we had so much fun together and those are the times that I really miss. Now, of the original cast of us, five of us were married, we had a divorce in season one, a divorce in season two, a divorce in season three, and so we were going through it all for real. None of us had done a reality show before.

So unlike today, when you see some shows, you can kind of tell that it’s hyperinflated versus back then, it was just our real lives and our real drama. It was kind of cute because we didn’t know what we were doing, we were just talking like we were normal friends. So we’d film for six hours talking about our kids and our charities and none of it would ever make the air. Finally, as season two rolled around we started figuring it out that we were just wasting the producers’ time, they were just thinking, “Nobody wants to hear about this.”

Q: So what's the context behind the "Woman Yelling at Cat" meme? What's happening in that scene?

A: In an episode [of The Real Housewives, I had been trying to hide my abusive marriage from the cameras. I learned very quickly that you can’t hide anything in reality. I ended up writing a book called “Hiding From Reality” which was like a twist on the fact that you can’t hide from reality, in many ways in your life.

But in the episode prior, Camille Grammer said at a tea party at Lisa’s, which of course means champagne, not tea, she said, “We don’t say he hits you, we don’t say he broke your jaw at the Super Bowl,” and I remember staring at the producer across the way, he had a monitor in his hand and I was in shock, because I thought, “Oh my god, this is going to go on national television, on worldwide television and I’m not going to be able to hide my reality any longer."

I was paralyzed in that moment. I also knew my abuser had threatened to kill me many times. He would say, “I’m afraid I’m going to kill you someday.” I thought, “What do I do?” This is going to be a turning point one way or another. We’re either going to get divorced, he’s going to kill me, or it’s going to force him to go to anger management or therapy and things are going to get better, but I knew nothing was going to stay the same after that moment.

So the next time we all got together, Brandy was throwing a party in Malibu and I was saying, at that moment, “You have no idea what you’ve done to me, he will kill me, you have no idea what you’ve done to me.” Kyle was trying to hold me back because she really didn’t — it really wasn't reality TV fodder. You know, it’s like catfights with girls. It was my real life and I was scared for my safety, my daughter’s safety and just thinking in my mind, “How am I ever going to contain him once this hits national television?” I knew I had a period of time for editing before it all came out, but I was just in a tailspin trying to figure out how I was going to control the situation, but I had no control.

Q: What was the first version of the meme you saw and when did you see it?

A: The first one I saw was the one that has “a new start,” it’s those license plates, and then the other one says “anustart.” That was the first one that was sent to me. I believe that’s from “Arrested Development.” So that was the first one that I saw and I certainly didn’t get that, because I had never seen that, so I didn’t get the license plates, I didn’t understand anything about it.

The cat was crazy because I thought the cat was a TV cat, like maybe he was from a television show and I just didn’t know it, but as things progressed I found out that he’s just a house cat and he just happens to have 1.7 million Instagram followers now. But he had jumped up on the table during a dinner party and there was a salad that was there and he was hoping for something a little more interesting than salad. So he just has that smug little look on his face. I actually have a stuffed animal version of him.

Sumdgelord is his name. So when people started asking me, “Why are you yelling at that cat?” I’m like, “I wasn’t yelling at the cat.” I was yelling at Camille. So it was really interesting, but since then I’ve had conversations with the owner of the cat and we’ve communicated. We’ve won some silly, fun awards. Smudge and I had a phone conversation, of course, he didn’t do much talking, but he’s rolling around with one of those old-fashioned phones like he could care less what I have to say, I’m apologizing for yelling at him, all this stuff. He just acts like he could care less, just in perfect timing with the way he’s been portrayed.

Q: Have you ever collaborated with Smudge in real life?

A: It was fun because they were going to cat-con and they wanted me to come and hang out and take pictures and stuff but I couldn’t go, it wasn’t working with my schedule, but I thought it would be kind of funny to be at his booth at cat-con instead of him being in my booth at something. I have to go to the cat, the cat doesn’t come to me. He and I should do a commercial for cat food or kitty litter, something together. I think it would be funny.

Q: What was your initial reaction to the meme? Were you ever offended by the fact that the jokes come from such a serious moment?

A: My initial reaction, because of the cat being there, was, “I don’t get it and I have no idea who this cat is.” Then I think the other thing, at first, people were concerned that it was going to upset me, because when they figured out what I was saying at that moment, they thought it would have a big emotional impact on me. But I was so far removed from that. My abuse happened in 2011.

It had been eight years and I’ve been through a lot of therapy, public speaking, so one thing it did do was open up another avenue to talk about domestic violence awareness, which I’m so passionate about talking about and raising money for shelters. It gave me, in a silly way, a way to spin it back around into what was going on in that moment. I hope that people do know that the meme does not upset me. I think it’s hysterical and people are so creative.

Q: Do people recognize you more for the meme or for The Real Housewives?

A: I’m in Mexico right now and people recognize me for the meme here than Housewives. When I’m home and in the United States, I would say most people recognize me for the show, but it’s kind of funny.

I was dropping my car off to get some maintenance done on it recently and the mechanics, when I came to pick up the car, went, “Can I ask you the question?” I thought, “Yeah, Housewives, whatever,” and they asked, “Are you that woman yelling at the cat?” This is my life. I do domestic violence awareness, raise tons of money for charity, but I’m always recognized for the cat. I feel like Smudge and I are going to go to the grave together.

I think it’s hysterical. I love that the meme has spread as far and wide as it has and that people have been able to have laughs about it. I think it’s great. I love the meme.

Q: Why do you think the meme has proven so popular with people and stayed relevant for so long?

A: Well cat culture is huge. I know that people love cats. So I think having the cat in the meme is a big part of it. Some of it’s because of Housewives. I think otherwise, it’s just because it makes no sense and it’s always the cat coming back with some smart comment about something I have to say. The captions are why people send them to other people because the captions are so funny and ironic.

[The meme] is so context-intensive with the back and forth of the cat and me, I think that’s one of the reasons it has had such longevity because you can make the two of us say anything. You can change it into any topic that’s going on in the world or just something silly. It’s just so versatile because of that. Then also, with all the merch, it’s been crazy over the years and I just would like for the record for everyone to know that I’ve never made a dime off any of the merch. All of the ugly Christmas sweaters and t-shirts and mugs and paintings, I don’t get anything for that.

Q: When did you decide to turn the meme into a meme coin?

A: It was like, eight months ago. People had approached me prior to do an NFT collection and I wasn’t really that familiar with crypto and didn’t feel comfortable at that point. But then, when a friend of mine approached me about doing a WYAC coin, I had learned a little bit more about crypto and felt like I had a good team around me and I learned a lot really quickly, that I didn’t know about crypto and what it’s like to be in that gain.

It does have some reputation challenges in the beginning and you have people that come to you because they know I’m a celebrity who's never been in crypto before. I’m kind of like a sitting duck for people to take advantage of me.

So I went through that little phase and I have an awesome admin team, I run everything through them before I even answer a simple DM on Twitter to make sure all the names fit who the person actually is. I got a little hoodwinked on a couple of those in the beginning. But I just have the best team.

Our community in crypto is so strong, our family is so loyal. Crypto is a bit of a financial rollercoaster and when the markets are up and down, you have to have an awesome, strong community to stand by you and help you learn everything there is to know about crypto.

Q: The meme coin space is definitely controversial. How have you managed to navigate it to make sure your coin isn't met with criticism for being a scam?

A: So the great thing for me is that I’ve stuck with it. Some people are leery of celebrity coins because they think it’s run by somebody other than the actual celebrity, so they don’t know if the celebrity’s name is just on it and the person is going to rug it, which just means they run it up really high then rug it and everybody loses all their money, except for the person who’s actually running the coin, who talked the celebrity into running it without understanding it.

That’s why I’m so thankful to have such an awesome community. I’ve stood by their side, they’ve stood by mine through the ups and down and ups and downs, but it’s exciting. Now that Trump’s in office, no matter what your political affiliations are and Elon, it’s going to just open up the world of crypto.

I think people are going to start understanding it more and feeling more comfortable with it, because it’s here to stay. That’s just a fact. It’s like AI, you can either jump on board with it or be afraid of it, but it’s not going anywhere. Jumping in slow, just putting a bit of money into any coin and just kind of watching it to learn the trends… it’s been an awesome experience. It’s scary at times when it’s low, but I think now with the crypto movement with our government, it’s going to be really helpful.

Q: What is the "Baby There's No Plane" meme? What's the context behind it?

A: So, “Baby There’s No Plane” was trending on TikTok for a while. That was a time on Housewives when my husband had committed suicide, I'd had reconstructive surgery on my face and he left me with huge financial burdens. He never signed the divorce papers, so everything that he was liable for came to me. I was so overwhelmed at the time.

My little daughter was five and she said to me, “Mommy can we go on the plane again?” I just looked at her and said, “Baby there’s no plane,” because the plane was gone. I didn’t have a plane anymore. I didn’t have a lot of things anymore, my life was going to bits. It is funny though that people started doing that on TikTok, it’s pretty cute.

I like the fact that they used my voice talking about her voice and then she did one, my daughter Kennedy, did one of herself and she says, “Mommy when can we go on the plane again” and her friend says, “Baby there’s no plane” and my daughter falls to the ground crying.

@ryinskott #rhobh #taylorarmstrong #baby ♬ original sound – Ryan Scott

Q: When did you learn about the meme?

A: I didn’t know anything about “baby there’s no plane,” I didn’t even remember the scene until I saw it play when someone sent it to me. But one of my publicists that I work with used to say to me all the time, “Baby there’s no plane.” I was like, “Okay.” I didn’t realize other people were saying it, so I kind of got it more from him than from seeing it on TikTok or anything, Then my daughter did it and I saw a lot of others people sent me, it was funny.

When it comes to the meme, I’m fascinated by the things people come up with. I’ve posted a lot of them to X in promoting the coin and stuff, a lot of the ones people send to me that are animated. So funny.

@faith.marie19 so sad #relatable #babythereisnoplane ♬ original sound – fin

Q: Why do you think it is that you're so memeable?

A: I don’t have any idea, I don’t know what I do to get myself into these memes. I have no idea. It’s funny because I don’t see a lot of the other Housewives get these meme moments. I’m not really sure why. I don’t know if it’s because I’m more animated or because I don’t have a filter, I don’t know what, but I need to figure it out.

Q: What are some of your favorite ways people use the meme?

A: The ones that have been surprising to me are the ones where it’s not me but someone completely different. There are some funny ones with Trump, but then also some of the Japanese ones are really cool and the Geisha girls yelling, the ones that aren’t me are the ones I usually find the most entertaining.

I mean face it, it’s the ugliest photo I’ve ever taken in my life and it’s the most famous photo of me ever. Nobody has a cute cry-yell face. Of all the pictures in the world, my cry-yell face.

Q: What's your advice for anyone who becomes a meme?

A: I say embrace it. If it brings smiles to people’s faces and it allows people to communicate with one another and if there’s a meaning behind it, like raising awareness for domestic abuse, you take it and turn it into something positive. More than anything, if it brings people joy and it’s a reason to text my mom or my friend, then I think it just opens up lines of communication to bring smiles to people’s faces. It’s awesome.

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A big thanks to Taylor Armstrong for talking with us. You can follow her on X @TaylorArmstrong and Instagram @TaylorArmstrong.

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