.@RKadyrov Is this your cat? pic.twitter.com/2UacV3km7J
— John Oliver (@iamjohnoliver) May 23, 2016
The host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, John Oliver, sparked an international feud with Chechnyan leader Ramzan Kadyrov over a lost cat. Kadyrov posted an image to Instagram asking his 1.8 million followers to help find the wayward feline. The media picked up the story, asking citizens to contact their local leaders if they found the cat. Oliver saw the Instagram post and decided to have a little fun while exposing Kadyrov as a brutal dictator obsessed with Vladimir Putin, who happened to appoint Kadyrov to power.
Oliver called out Kadyrov for his habit of wearing shirts featuring images of Putin, as well as mentioning accusations against Kadryov’s security forces for kidnapping and torture in addition to allegations against Kadryov himself of human rights abuses. Not to mention his Instagram posts of his own workout routines set to rave music.
With all of that in mind, Oliver felt it was of the utmost importance to find Kadryov’s cat before he does something terrible. So he called on his viewers to use the hashtag #FindKadryovsCat on social media and contact Kadryov with the message, “I have seen your cat,” or “I have not seen your cat,” or, “Is this your cat?” with a photo of the cat in question. Kadryov isn’t taking Oliver’s “help” lying down, firing back on Instagram with an image of Oliver and a strange, hard-to-decipher caption praising Putin.
Will this feud continue to escalate to an all-out international social media war over a lost cat? Have you seen Kadryov’s cat? Let us know in the comments below!