Melissa Joan Hart has subtly responded to critics after making a dark joke that some cat lovers called “heartbreaking” and “tasteless.”
The actress famously played a sorceress in the ABC sitcom Sabrina The Teenage Witch, which aired between 1996 and 2003.
The show chronicles the adventures of Sabrina, a girl who discovers on her 16th birthday that she is a witch, and follows her as she wreaks havoc on those around her while working to master her gift.
Melissa Joan Hart responded after drawing the ire of thousands of animal lovers over a humorous video
Image credits: Getty/Taylor Hill
One of the most memorable characters in the series is Salem, a 500-year-old witch who has been turned into a black cat for plotting to take over the world. In addition to Sabrina, Salem is the only character to appear in all seven seasons of the show.
More than two decades after the sitcom ended, Melissa paid homage to Sabrina by featuring her beloved TV companion in a controversial video.
Image credits: imdb
The video begins with the 49-year-old actress sitting on a chair with a toy black cat on her lap. Then, she suddenly throws the stuffed animal into the air and kicks it.
“When people ask me if I’m a cat person,” Melissa wrote over the now-viral video.
The clip then shows Melissa petting a black dog sitting next to her.
“No Salems were harmed in the filming of this silly video,” she clarified in the caption, adding, “P.S. I like cats, but I love dogs!”
Melissa was slammed for kicking a stuffed black cat to show she isn’t a “cat person”
Image credits: melissajoanhart
Melissa’s Instagram quickly became flooded with critical messages, with people condemning the joke and accusing her of encouraging animal cruelty.
“Real cats and real animal lovers don’t find this funny at all. I love dark humor, but this ain’t it,” one user said.
“That was heartbreaking. No violence against any kind of animal!” stated another.
Image credits: melissajoanhart
“That was a bad joke, it encourages violence against real animals, I thought that was a sad post,” a third viewer agreed.
Someone else deemed the joke “unnecessary,” writing, “People hurt black cats every day. This is not nice. Tasteless…”
Image credits: melissajoanhart
Meanwhile, others jumped to the star’s defense, arguing critics were reacting too sensitively to a lighthearted joke about the “cats vs. dogs” debate.
“It was a stuffed cat. Not real. Get over it,” one fan stated.
While some netizens criticized the actress, others defended her video as harmless dark humor
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“I’m a #catguy, but I thought it was funny! People need to relax and stop looking to be offended by any little thing,” echoed someone else.
“Good grief… some people take life faaaaar too seriously!!” shared an additional viewer. “I love animals. I’ve had cats, dogs, hamsters, mice, and a budgie in the past. Wasn’t exactly a real cat ffs!!”
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The NY-born actress appears to be unfazed by the backlash, as she recently posted a vacation photo that showed her striking a carefree pose at the beach.
“New profile pic. #beachvibes,” she captioned the post from St. Barts.
Days after posting the video, she shared another clip in which she reminisced about her 1990s roles.
The video showed Melissa drinking coffee and featured a text overlay that read, “Mom, what were you doing in the ‘90s?”
It then cut to retro photos from her shows, including Sabrina The Teenage Witch and the Nickelodeon sitcom Clarissa Explains It All.
Melissa has also appeared in Melissa and Joey, Boy Meets World, That ’70s Show, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Some of her reality TV appearances include The Masked Singer, Dancing with the Stars, and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.
Melissa is married to musician Mark Wilkerson, with whom she shares three children.
Her more recent role was in the 2025 Christmas film A Merry Little Ex-Mas, which she also produced.
Melissa starred for seven seasons in the sitcom Sabrina The Teenage Witch
Image credits: melissajoanhart
In her memoir, Melissa Explains It All, Melissa revealed that while she was a famous star in the 1990s, she experimented with different hard substances, though she never developed a dependency like some of her fellow Nickelodeon stars.
She shared that in 1999 she attended a party at Hugh Hefner’s mansion where she was allegedly offered illegal substances.
“I was kind of running with a bad crowd,” she explained, adding that she never “enjoyed” taking the substances and disliked “the loss of control.”
Melissa’s “cat person” video sparked mixed reactions on social media
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