Archives for April 2023

The father of Tanner Cook, the prank YouTuber who was recently shot in Virginia, said that his family has received harassment following his son’s hospitalization.

Jeramy Cook said he has received messages stating that his son deserved to get shot because of his YouTube channel. He also said he has been getting contacts and messages to his phone that have made him feel threatened.

“Our family has been absolutely targeted by people saying he should have died, too bad he didn’t die, just colorful, nasty language,” Jeramy Cook said.

Tanner Cook’s videos, posted on his YouTube channel Classified Goons, have received backlash since he was injured at the Dulles Town Center Mall in Sterling, Virginia on Sunday.

Cook was playing a prank involving Google Translate at the time of the shooting. The shooter, Alan Colie, was working for DoorDash at the time and told Cook multiple times to get away from him, Detective Katie Mitchell of the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said during a court hearing this week, according to CBS-affiliate WUSA.

The YouTuber is known for pulling audacious practical jokes on unsuspecting strangers. Some of his videos include “Fake Target Thug Employee Prank,” “Fake Vomiting On Uber Drivers!” and “Taking Rackets From Tennis Players Prank!”

Comments under his latest YouTube videos show viewers praising and sympathizing with Colie. Others made jokes about Cook’s injury, which required him to undergo surgery to remove his gallbladder.

Jeramy Cook said many of the responses to his son’s experience have gone too far.

“It’s just gross,” Jeramy Cook said. “How do they think that they’re on some high moral ground to cuss somebody out whose son was just shot?”

Jeramy Cook said his son is “a good kid that doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.” He added that Tanner wants to provide entertainment to people.

He also pointed out that his son is not the only person to create prank content. The genre stretches back to the days of Ashton Kutcher’s “Punk’d” or “Jackass” movies and have been a staple of online culture for years.

While the content is divisive, prank videos remain a popular genre on YouTube. One of Tanner Cook’s collaborators includes JiDion, a notorious YouTuber who has built a following of over 6 million followers for his pranks.

“There’s a million TV shows and movies and YouTube channels … [of] people pranking people all day long, and people eat it up,” Jeramy Cook said. “So if there’s some magical line in terms of what’s not okay, then that line should be clearly defined for anybody in the space.”

Jeramy Cook said he forgives Colie, but added if someone feels harassed, they should tell the police and let law enforcement handle the issue.

“If he didn’t break the law, and he broke somebody’s feelings, then that’s not a thing that’s actionable,” Jeramy Cook said. “You know, you can’t take the law into your own hands because you feel triggered.”

One target of Cook’s pranking, Natalie Lomax, told CBS-affiliate WUSA that she reported Cook to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Department three weeks before the shooting. Lomax did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

Lomax and the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office  did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“It’s been a lot, emotionally and physically,” Jeramy Cook said of the past week. “So we’re just praying and trusting God and getting through it.”

Have you ever come home and felt there’s another presence in your house?

You pass by the lounge and see a cat sitting on your sofa, you think “awww, a kitty” and continue on your way. Then you realize that it’s not your cat, in fact, you don’t even have a cat!

How did it get there? And if you do own a cat – where has my kitty gone?

Stephanie Holcomb founded a Facebook group named ‘My House, Not My Cat’ back in October 2016 because she kept seeing ‘This Is Not My Cat’ memes pop up all over the internet.

“Cats would just let themselves in people’s houses via doggie doors or open windows, and these people didn’t have cats! They were hilarious, so I did a little search and found that there wasn’t a group made up specifically for that yet.”

So if you’re in need of some good vibes, you’re going to love the My House, Not My Cat Facebook group. It’s a wholesome online community dedicated to people who share photos of cats who somehow end up in their homes, visit their yards, sit on their roofs and generally hang out in places that they really shouldn’t be!

Scroll down to be amazed and let us know which ones are your favorites in the comments below.

1. Gave This Guy A Piece Of Bacon On My Way Home From The Bar Last Night. Followed Me Ten Blocks Home. This Is How I Woke Up

2. Came Home Yesterday To Find That Santa Left This Black Kitty On My Balcony… Who Then Proceeded To Give Birth To 7 Little Beans. 7 Black Cats Born On Christmas, That’s Gotta Be Lucky

3. I Have Been Feeding A Cat For Some Time Now. Of Course I Set Out A Little Shelter And Blanket Also. I’ve Grown To Call Them My Phantom Kitty. I Could Never Catch It During The Day So I Figured I Would Sneak Out To Take A Peek Tonight. Look At This “Cat”

4. My House, Not My Cat

I live in Phoenix, AZ. In February 2019, we saw an orange blob on the house camera feeding from the feral cat feeding bowl. *start photos top left*

I posted on the Nextdoor app “hey, is this your cat?”… no reply for about two weeks so I kept posting daily pics. Short story, I finally found his owner and she said “yep, that’s my cat.” But Sam… he just would not stop hanging around our house – day in and day out… he would get in my car, he would lay on our doormat to be sure to not miss our arrivals, and many days of watching him on the ring doorbell sitting – staring.

I finally let him in. We called him Cinnamon. And he loved his new home. LOVED. I called the owner and she said “he chose you.” We brushed him, he really blossomed and played and slept with the other pets. I would post funny instagram stories of “random not my cat” things and multiple Facebook posts of “look at this crazy neighbor’s cat.”

In November, he grew ill, so I called his owner and said “Sam is sick… I just wanted you to know.” My husband and I took him to the vet and they gave him a few days to live… so we went through his bucket list 1. Eat tuna, 2. sit in sunny window on forbidden kitchen counter, and finally 3. lay outside under the big tree where we brought him Squeeze Up treats and bowls of ice water.

Cinnamon/Sam lasted a week – kidney failure.

Sometimes – my house, not my cat… just isn’t what it seems. I still miss that freeloading fool.

November 2019 – Love couldn’t save him.

5. This Is Crumpet. This Is My House. It Is Not My Cat

Crumpet sits on my decking each and every morning and stares through the door awaiting his daily tribute.

He’ll pretty much consume anything.

Biscuits, leftovers, a small child, the soul of a loved one… whatever.

All hail our super fluffy ginger overlord!

6. I Opened My Front Door Today, And A Flea-Covered, Cuddly, Sweetheart Came Running In

I was in such shock that I first thought one of my own was getting out! She’s currently trapped in the bathroom being an adorable kitten, and tomorrow we go to the vet. My dog is already hoping we keep her.

Her family lost her almost 2 Years Ago!!!! Mom was in TEARS. I’m so very selfishly sad, but I just made a whole family incredibly happy.

7. First Photo: This Was Not My Cat, He Just Entered My House And Slept In My Bed Second Photo: Now He Climbs Me. Third Photo: He’s Definitively My C A T T O Now

8. This Is Swirl Who Was My Cat, The Kitten Is Not. He Loved Kittens And Would Steal People’s Kittens And Bring Them Home. He’s No Longer With Us So I Miss Those Days Of Coming Home To A Random Kitten In The House

9. It Only Took A Few Months For Amelia Pond To Go From “My House, Not My Cat” To “How’d You Get So Fat?!?”

For more than 20 years we’d been a dogs-only family.

One day about 4 1/2 years ago, Amelia decided it was time to change that. She randomly showed up at our house, super skinny but otherwise very healthy…and then never left.

We really think she was dumped, because she was SO super friendly and *completely* unafraid of people…she SPRINTED inside the house the moment we opened the door, and jumped in our laps!

Now she’s living as a cat should be, rotund and lazy and happy.

10. This Is My Glass Of Water, This Is My House, This Is Not My Cat Drinking My Water In My House , This Is My Neighbor’s Cat, Ted!

11. This Is My Bathroom…. This Is Not My Cat! This Is My Neighbor’s Cat Ted!

12. I Was Told To Come Here And Tell Y’all About What Happened Over The Last 12 Hours At My House, With This Cat That Is Not My Cat, And Now These Kittens That Are Not My Kittens Or Her Kittens

So about 1:00 this morning, I went outside and this cat, that is not my cat, meows, so I call it, and it comes right to me.

Now first, we have dogs, lots of dogs, and 2 are neighbors’ dogs that live outside, and yet somehow, this tiny cat just strolls right up and none of the dogs even move. Second, we live in the country and we know all our neighbors and their cats, and this is not their cat. Third, when I pick her up, it’s apparent that she has had kittens recently.

So now I’m standing outside at 1:00 AM, holding this very friendly cat that has apparently been dumped at my house, and is somehow magical and able to sneak past sleeping dogs. But now I have to carry her past the 2 outside dogs and the 6 inside dogs to get her somewhere safe….

She is absolutely fine with the whole thing. Stays snuggled in my arms. Purrs. I’m not convinced that this is real, that I’m not dreaming. So I feed the magic cat and start looking for kittens. Y’all, I searched for nearly 7 straight hours. I even enlisted my Terrier mix in the hunt. (She could find baby mice in a snowstorm with earmuffs on.) I even walked the property playing kittens meowing sounds on my phone.

So this is the bad news, we live in the country and the likelihood of the babies being ok with all the predators here is slim, and she may have been dumped without them. So I am not giving up looking, but now I’ve got a potential surrogate mom cat. And y’all, I’ve bottlefed kittens and if there’s a chance for a surrogate, trust me, worth it.

I reached out to my rescue friends and managed to get her lined up to be a surrogate mom to 3 orphaned kittens before noon. Unfortunately, the vet check showed that she has a lot of parasites and she’s going to have to wait 3 days before she can meet her new babies. But the vet said she should still be able to feed the babies then. So now this cat that is not my cat is not at my house anymore, she’s getting well so she can meet the kittens that are not her kittens. Told you she was magic. And I need a nap.

13. My Mom Sent Me This, Neither Of These Cats Belong To My Parents

14. My Cat. Not My House

15. This Is Mr. Black. He Is Our Neighbours Cat Who Visits Us Every Day. He Is Not Ours But He Thinks He Is!! Here He Is Doing The Biggest Blep. He Has A Natural Snaggletooth

16. I Went To My Kitchen To Get My Washing Out Of The Machine And Feed My Cats, But Walked Into Five Cats In My Kitchen. I Only Have Three!

17. I Left The Door Open A Moment Too Long When I Got Home One Day And This Little Goob Sprinted Inside, Circled The Living Room, And Plopped On The Floor

18. Okay, So About A Week Or So Ago I Had Just Gotten Home From Work When I Hear A Meow At My Apartment Door

I open the door to check out the noise and this orange baby comes walking in like ‘cool, I live here now’. I already have two cats and a large dog but this new one is walking about with no issues or fighting.

19. My House. My Coffee Table. Not My Cat

20. Soooo, This Is My Car, That Is Not My Cat

21. The Mama Cat Who Had Babies In My Garden Shed. She’s Ultra Friendly And Her Babies Are Thriving! We’ve Got A Few Friends Interested In Adopting Them, But I Think We *might* Keep Them

22. My GF Ask Me Why Did I Put A White Cat In Our Laundry Room, Didn’t Know What She Was Talking A Out, Send Me The Pic Felt In Love With Cat, Cat Is Now Part Of The Family

23. I Do Have A Cat, He’s The Cat On The Left. The Cat On The Right Is Not My Cat. He Would Very Much Like To Be My Cat. I Too Would Also Like Him To Be My Cat. My Actual Cat Disagrees With All Of This, And So Do His Owners

24. This Beautiful Girl Visits Almost Every Day For Breakfast! We’ve Named Her “Magic”

25. My House… Not My Cat…

26. My Flat, Not My Cat!

27. Is This How One Acquires A Cat?

28. My Baby’s Bassinet, Not My Cat

29. My Dog, My Couch. Not My Cat

30. Why Do Neighbourhood Cats Always Come To My House?

31. My Bed. Not My Cat. Left The Front Door Open And Came Into My Room To Find This Kitty

32. This Is Sharon. Sharon Would Sneak In The House On A Daily Basis And Pretend To Be Asleep When We Had To Escort Her Out. Sharon Is Not Our Cat, Nor Do We Know If She Is Actually Called Sharon

33. My kitchen, not my cat. My older cat escorted him through the kitchen door and walked him over to the food bowl 

34. My husband. Not my cat. She wandered in last night and she is still here today… I don’t think she has plans to leave 

35. Not my cat provided me with 13 not my kittens this year. She is now not my spayed cat 

36. Washing the dishes and glanced out of the window. These are not my cats 

37. My neighbor’s cat arrives with a meow at 7am and stays the whole day until the neighbour texts me at 5pm asking for her cat back 

38. This is my rabbit’s house, he doesn’t have a cat

39. This is my patio and this is my budgie, but this is not my cat 

40. My wall vent, not my cat

41. My house. My porch. My packages. Not my cat…

42. My house, my bed, not my cat! This is Max, a ginger cat that belongs to my neighbor and he came by to watch some TV with me 

43. This baby kitty was not our cat – but now she is! 

44. My house, my cat’s bed, not my possum! 

45. My kitchen island, not my baby…

46. My couch, not my cat. She has visited us every day since lockdown began and sometimes sleeps in our bed at night. 

47. My garden, not my cat 

48. My house, not my cat. We are surrounded by farms so people toss their unwanted cats here. The cats know I’m a sucker for kitty snuggles

49. My house, my couch, not my cats at the time this picture was taken – but they are now! 

50. The first picture, my house, not my cat. The second picture, five years later, my cat