Sophie Cunningham Gets Dragged for Calling Her Own Cat "Mid" — And the Internet Is Absolutely Feral
Look, we've all had those moments where we look at our beloved pet and think, "Yeah, you're kinda basic, but I tolerate you because you live here rent-free." But you're not supposed to *say that out loud*, let alone broadcast it to your 300,000 followers on a platform where people treat their cats like literal deities. Yet here we are, living in the timeline where Phoenix Mercury WNBA star Sophie Cunningham decided to commit career suicide by slandering her own feline roommate in a way that made the internet collectively clutch its pearls.
In case you've been living under a rock (or, more appropriately, in a cat-free zone where you can actually get a full night's sleep), here's the tea: Cunningham posted a video on TikTok where she straight-up called her cat "mid." Yes, *mid*. That's Gen Z slang for "average," "unremarkable," "nothing special," "the human equivalent of beige paint." She basically said her cat is the culinary equivalent of a plain bagel. No cream cheese. No everything seasoning. Just... bread.
Now, let's pause and acknowledge the sheer audacity. This is a woman who gets paid to throw a ball through a hoop. And she thought it was a good idea to trash talk the one creature on this planet that does absolutely nothing all day except look judgmental and occasionally puke on the rug. The cat—who, by the way, didn't sign up for this—is just sitting there, probably planning her revenge by knocking a potted plant off the counter at 3 AM. But no, *Sophie* is the victim here. Because the internet, as it always does, took a joke and turned it into a full-blown AITA post.
The video itself is a masterclass in "everything that could go wrong, did go wrong." Cunningham is petting her cat, a perfectly normal-looking feline that I'm gonna assume has never done anything to her except maybe eat her leftovers, when she looks into the camera with the dead-eyed seriousness of someone who just realized they left their keys in the Uber and says, "She's mid. Like, she's not ugly, but she's not a 10. She's just... average." The cat, oblivious, continues to purr. The internet, however, did not.
Within hours, the comments section was a warzone. People were calling her out for "fat-shaming" her cat (because the cat is admittedly a bit chonky), for "projecting her own insecurities," and for just generally being a bad pet parent. One user wrote, "This is why I don't support the WNBA. Players out here dragging innocent animals." Another said, "Ma'am, that cat pays your rent by being cute. You're just a basketball player." Classic Reddit energy: zero nuance, maximum vitriol.
But let's be real for a second. Is this actually an issue? Cunningham is known for her unfiltered, chaotic online presence. She's the same woman who once called a referee a "bitch" on live TV and then made it her Instagram bio. She's the queen of "I'm gonna say the quiet part loud and see what happens." So when she called her cat "mid," she wasn't being malicious. She was being... Sophie. Which, to be fair, is exactly the kind of behavior that makes her fun to follow, but also the kind of behavior that makes you realize she probably shouldn't be allowed near children or animals in a professional capacity.
The real kicker? The cat doesn't care. The cat is living its best life, probably eating a piece of ham that fell on the floor while Sophie is getting ratioed on Twitter by a bunch of people who have never touched grass. But the internet is a funny place. We've created a world where a basketball player can casually insult her own pet and suddenly she's the villain of the week. Meanwhile, actual villains are out there doing actual harm, but no, let's focus on the woman who said her cat is "average." Priorities, people.
And here's where the AITA energy really kicks in. Is Sophie Cunningham an asshole for calling her cat "mid"? Let's break this down like a cheap IKEA furniture assembly.
**The Case Against Sophie:**
- She owns a cat. The cat trusts her. The cat literally cannot defend itself because it doesn't speak English (or any language, really, except the language of "feed me at 5 AM"). So by publicly trashing her cat, she's abusing a position of power. Classic toxic boss behavior.
- "Mid" is a loaded term in 2024. It implies mediocrity. It implies that the cat is not worthy of the pedestal we've placed all cats on. By saying her cat is mid, she's basically saying cats are overrated. Which, I mean, they kind of are? But you're not allowed to say that. It's like saying pineapple on pizza is good—technically true, but you'll get canceled anyway.
- She's a public figure. She should know better. You don't mess with the pet internet. That's rule number one of social media. Rule number two is never admit to being a fan of the Yankees. Rule number three is don't call your cat mid.
**The Case For Sophie:**
- It's a joke. A bad joke, sure, but a joke. She didn't say she was going to abandon the cat at a gas station. She said the cat is average. That's not abuse. That's an opinion. And last I checked, we still have free speech in this country, even if we don't have affordable healthcare.
- The cat is probably fine. Cats don't have self-esteem. They don't know what "mid" means. If you call a cat ugly, it will still demand food. If you call a cat beautiful, it will still knock your glass off the table. Cats are sociopaths. They don't care about your validation.
- Sophie Cunningham is a professional athlete. She has bigger things to worry about, like not getting benched for saying
Final Thoughts
Sophie Cunningham’s latest piece is a masterclass in how the personal and the political don’t just intersect—they collide, leaving dust and debris for the reader to sift through. What strikes me most is her unflinching refusal to offer easy comfort, instead trusting her audience to sit with the uncomfortable truths she excavates from everyday life. In an era of hot takes and shallow analysis, Cunningham reminds us that the best journalism isn’t about giving answers, but about asking the right questions and letting the silence do its work.