Jessie Buckley forced to clarify comments after ‘cruel and disgusting’ ultimatum for husband

Jessie Buckley has backpedaled on her controversial cat comments after receiving backlash.

Earlier this week an interview clip with the Hamnet star went viral after the 36-year-old revealed that she gave her husband an ultimatum to get rid of his pets when they were dating.

"I don’t like cats. Cats are mean," Buckley said during an appearance on Happy Sad Confused podcast alongside co-star Paul Mescal after they were quizzed on their pet preferences.

She then went on to reveal that her now-husband Freddie Sorensen had owned cats when they first started dating, with the actor going on to reveal she gave him an ultimatum to get rid of the pets.

"My husband, when I started dating him, he had two cats… This is bad as well. I’m gonna get cancelled," she said.

Going on to describe one of Sorensen's pets as 'a pedigree model b***h' Buckley said the animal had 'staged a coup' against her.

Jessie Buckley has been receiving heat for her comments on cats (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

"I’d come home, and there’d just be poo on my pillow. And I was like, 'it’s me or the cats'. But I won," she added. "Sorrryyyyy."

"F**k cats," Mescal added.

The anecdote unsurprisingly caused international outrage amongst cat owners, with several people calling out The Bride! actor for her demands. "Getting rid of your pets for someone is crazy. Asking someone to do that is even crazier," one person wrote on Reddit, while another person with severe allergies revealed she'd never make a potential partner rehome a pet.

"I was disgusted. I would not want to have a boyfriend that would get rid of his pet just for a potential girlfriend," they wrote.

"No one is mad that Jessie Buckley hates cats. The part where she made her man get rid of his cats, then laughed like that was cute instead of cruel? Yeah. That part. She deserves some blowback for that," added a third on X.

Buckley claimed on a podcast that she made her husband get rid of his cats (Getty Stock Images)

Sensing a growing backlash or perhaps seeing headlines musing about whether or not her cat comments impacting her Oscar chances, Buckley has since backtracked on the comments.

"I need to clarify something for all cat lovers in the world, right," she said during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon before saying that she is actually a 'lover of cats'.

"I woke up this morning – does the world think that I really don’t love cats? And it’s really weighed on me all day. I felt sick," she continued.

"There’s been a misconception because of an interview that I did. They asked me if I was a dog or a cat, and honestly, I think I’m probably a quarter cat and three-quarters dog."

However she has since clarified her views on the pets (Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images)

Buckley then went on to reveal that she'd even auditioned for a part in the 2019 film Cats, hoping it would prove that she didn't hate the animal.

"I want to just tell cat people that I actually auditioned to be a cat once," she said.

"It was honestly the worst – I gave the worst audition of my life. It was so hot. I was sweating. I was like, licking my paws, like trying to leap. I was just like a hoof of an Irish woman leaping across and licking her paws. And anyway, obviously I didn’t get it."