Police debunk viral Cat in the Hat AI hoax

A viral social media trend featuring AI-generated images of a sinister-looking Cat in the Hat has alarmed teenagers across the UK and Ireland, prompting police forces to publicly debunk false claims of real-life sightings. The trend, which began in late June 2026, has spread widely on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, showing the Dr. Seuss character lurking in residential areas and convincing some young people that the figure is real. The phenomenon can be traced to a TikTok post on June 30, 2026, which paired footage from the 2003 film starring Mike Myers with ominous music. The concept evolved as creators used artificial intelligence to insert a realistic, life-sized version of the character into familiar locations, often presenting the images as doorbell camera or security footage. Posts claiming sightings emerged from numerous towns and cities, including Limerick, Dublin, Sheffield, Manchester, and Glasgow, sometimes accompanied by warnings to lock doors. Police in both countries moved to address the growing concern. Wexford Gardaí stated that the images were created using AI prompts and clarified, "To be clear, the Cat in the Hat was not in your driveway while you were out.