The "cat boy" meme emerged in late 2019 when a 10-hour livestream surfaced showing Nick Fuentes, a prominent white nationalist, chatting and joking with an internet troller known as "Catboy Kami".
Fuentes explained that he sees Catboy Kami as having a good sense of humor, suggesting a strategic pairing between the two far-right figures.
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The Catboy Kami and Fuentes relationship has drawn significant attention, with some arguing Catboy Kami's actions have traumatized people and he is connected to a white nationalist organizing network.
Others have suggested the 10-hour stream may have been meant to be a private recording, and Fuentes may have been using Catboy Kami's online persona to appeal to a broader audience.
Catboy Kami, whose real name is Tor Gustafsson Brookes, has streamed videos of himself wearing racist outfits including blackface and stereotypical costumes mocking minorities.
The "cat boy" aesthetic has been associated with the far-right, with some arguing it represents a fetishization of youth and femininity as a means of appealing to disaffected young men.
Fuentes, the leader of a Gen Z white nationalist movement called the "Groypers", has been described as a key figure in the growing online far-right ecosystem.
The Catboy Kami and Fuentes relationship highlights how the far-right is using internet subcultures and memes to spread their ideology and recruit new followers.
Some experts have argued that the cat boy meme represents a larger trend of the far-right trying to "normalize" their views by associating them with seemingly harmless internet culture.
The controversy surrounding Catboy Kami and Fuentes' relationship has also drawn attention to the challenges of deplatforming and de-radicalizing individuals within these online communities.
Researchers have noted that the blending of internet subcultures and far-right extremism can make it difficult to identify and counter the spread of hateful ideologies online.
The Catboy Kami and Fuentes case illustrates how the far-right is increasingly using irony, humor, and internet culture to mask their true agenda and appeal to a younger demographic.