Hilary Duff’s new cat is named after this iconic Drag Race star: ‘She knew what she was doing’
Hilary Duff’s cat has taken its name from a Drag Race champ. (YouTube/World of Wonder/Getty)
Pop music superstar, former Disney Channel star, and OG fighter of homophobia Hilary Duff has taken her allyship to the extreme by adopting a cat named after a RuPaul’s Drag Race fan favourite.
The two-time Emmy Award nominee and Lizzie McGuire actress announced at the end of January that she had adopted a sibling for Moon, the cat she welcomed into her family last year.
Her husband, American musician Matthew Koma, shared an adorable photo of a small cherubic grey and white kitten on his Instagram Stories, revealing that she was rescued by charity Feline Lifeline.
The kitty had been taken in by the organisation after being found in a parking lot on the night the Eaton wildfire started in Los Angeles County in early January.
Following on from Duff and Koma’s decision to adopt the cat, Feline Lifeline revealed her very unique and very legendary name: Jinkx Pawsoon.
The moniker is, obviously, a genius reference to two-time RuPaul’s Drag Race champ and Doctor Who star, Jinkx Monsoon.
“Meet JINKX PAWNSOON! On the night before the devastating Eaton fire broke out and as the Santa Ana winds were gusting, this little cutie was discovered by a colony feeder at the Trader Joe’s in Hastings Ranch (Pasadena),” the organisation shared.
“Friendly and affectionate, she came running out of the nearby brush when the feeder arrived, essentially begging for a rescue.”
After learning that Duff had taken in the kitten with her name, Jinkx responded with glee online, writing on X/Twitter alongside a slew of weeping emojis: “Hilary Duff rescued a kitten named Jinkx Pawnsoon?!”
The Broadway star then shared a small shoutout to Feline Lifeline and their work.
Fans of the drag star joined her in cooing over the cat and its adorable name, with Drag Race season ten contestant Yuhua Hamasaki writing: “She knew what she was doing.”
Hilary Duff rescued a kitten named Jinkx Pawnsoon?! 😭😭😭🖤🖤🖤 pic.twitter.com/PSNoBKXqAV
— Jinkx Monsoon (@JinkxMonsoon) January 31, 2025
“Truly didn’t think I could love this woman more than I already do and I guess she proved me wrong,” another wrote of Duff’s cat rehoming ways.
“Wake Up” and “Sparks” hitmaker Hilary Duff had made her affinity for the LGBTQ+ community clear many times before she adopted a Drag Race kitty, most notably in her viral 2008 “Think Before You Speak” PSA.
In the ad, which instantly ended homophobia, Duff reprimands a peer who said a top she was trying on looks “totally gay”.
“You really shouldn’t say that something’s gay when you mean that it’s bad. It’s insulting,” she says. “What if every time something was bad, everybody said ‘That’s so girl wearing a skirt as a top’.”
After the ad became a perennial part of popular culture, Duff recreated it back in 2022, with iconic effects.
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