BBC News' Reeta Chakrabarti Gets Taste Of How Viral US Lawyer Felt With Bosses' Cat Filter Prank

"They said they would do this to me and they have," the presenter lamented.
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BBC newsreader Reeta Chakrabarti was left feeling like Texas lawyer and viral star Rod Ponton after getting a cat filter stuck on her during a live bulletin.

The story made headlines on BBC News on Wednesday, with Reeta’s bosses deciding to stick her in a similar situation.

Reeta Chakrabarti on BBC News
Reeta Chakrabarti on BBC News
BBC

Appearing with a cat’s ears, nose and whiskers on her face, an exasperated Rita said: “Well, they said they would do this to me and they have.

“It was inevitable I suppose, and it will give you paws for thought.”

During the infamous Zoom hearing, Ponton had to let Judge Ferguson know that he wasn’t a cat after accidentally activating the filter function.

After initially feeling concerned about the reaction to the video, Ponton said he has now embraced becoming an internet sensation.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “As it turns out, in hindsight it’s provided a good laugh, I think, for the country.

“I think anybody that’s ever struggled with a computer, with Zoom, can recognise that those kinds of things can happen and it certainly did happen to me.”

A repost of the video on Twitter now has more than 28 million views.

“I’m here live, I’m not a cat,” says lawyer after Zoom filter mishap

“I can see that,” responds judge pic.twitter.com/HclKlAUwbM

— Lawrence Hurley (@lawrencehurley) February 9, 2021

Judge Ferguson said what happened was a “simple mistake that could happen to any one of us”, and he did not wish for people to “poke fun” at the lawyer for the mishap.

“It goes hand-in-hand with the legal community’s effort to continue representing their clients in these challenging times,” he added.

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