“Salem gave you your career”: Melissa Joan Hart’s anti-cat video depresses some “Sabrina” fans

Melissa Joan Hart is known for playing the titular character in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but there's a trait she doesn't share with her character: a love for cats.

Hart took to TikTok this week to post a video titled "When people ask if I'm a cat person." It shows her petting a stuffed cat that looks like Salem from her old sitcom. She then kicks the cat away, and it's replaced by a real dog.

"No Salems were harmed in the filming of this silly video," she captioned the post. "P.S. I like cats, but I love dogs!

Fans react to Melissa Joan Hart's video

While Hart's video was made in good fun, it got a mixed reaction from Sabrina fans. Some people seemed legitimately offended by the video.

"Not a funny video at all……," Paola Loyola commented on TikTok.

"This was disappointing," Stella Bridge added.

"My childhood ruined in one clip," Jonathan Banks replied.

"Why on earth did you post something like this?" Buffy commented.

An animal volunteer on Reddit summarized their feelings as such: "I'm not easily offended but I think this was in poor taste. Obviously, it's a stuffed cat so it's not a big deal, she doesn't need to be "cancelled" or apologize or whatever, but implied violence against animals is just offputting to me. She could have snapped her fingers and "turned" the stuffed cat into a dog or something."

However, many thought it was funny. "tbf Salem was a little asshole," said u/cranberrylimeade420.

"Girl, you play too much 😂," Newman Music Academy added on TikTok.

Some jested right back. "Salem would've thought this was hilarious tbh," said u/miserable_otter_6543.

"Gurl. Salem gave you a career. He was the reason you had so many seasons," Beyondthepines wrote on TikTok.

"How dare you! Salem is an icon lol," Danielle added.

"After some of the things that cat said to you, I get it, girl," Lizzi B joked.

One fan was just happy to see Hart pop up in their FYP.

"Having Sabrina the Teenage Witch pop up on my fyp was not on my 2026 bingo card. Used to love the show growing up. The nostalgia,"
t0mkent shared.

Meanwhile, a lot of folks just want to see more Sabrina Spellman.

"Please, I need a Sabrina’s Teenage Witch reboot. Who do I need to talk to?" Niki asked on TikTok.

"We said we want a reboot, not to boot Salem," Whatsurmuse joked.

In conclusion, u/BlueFlamingoMaWi asked, "y'all know that stuffed animals aren't real animals, right?"