Doja Cat has found herself wrapped up in several controversies since releasing her first EP, Purr!, in 2014.
In July 2023, Doja received backlash from her fan base after she slammed their unofficial nickname, “Kittenz.” In a since-deleted Threads post, she wrote, “My fans don’t name themselves s—t. If you call yourself a ‘kitten’ or f—king ‘kittenz’ that means you need to get off your phone and get a job and help your parents with the house.”
In another since-deleted post, Doja clapped back at another fan asking her to tell her fans that she loves them, despite disliking the nickname she gave them when she was a self-proclaimed “alcoholic teen.”
The Threads user wrote, “I wanna hear you say (I do love you guys) As usual you say to your fans,” to which Doja responded, “I don’t though cuz i don’t even know yall.”
Keep scrolling for Doja’s most controversial moments over the years:
Chat Rooms Scandal
In May 2020, fans called out Doja over using a derogatory term — used in reference to Black victims of police brutality — as the title of one of her old songs. In addition, footage went viral of Doja allegedly participating in online chat rooms associated with racist and alt-right groups. As a result, the hashtag #DojaCatIsOverParty trended online.
She addressed the controversy in a since-deleted Instagram post, stating, “I’ve used public chat rooms to socialize since I was a child. I shouldn’t have been on some of those chat room sites, but I personally have never been involved in any racist conversations. I’m sorry to everyone that I offended.”
Doja continued: “I’m a black woman. Half of my family is black from South Africa and I’m very proud of where I come from.”
She continued to discuss the scandal in an Instagram Live video, in which she claimed she was “f—ing blackout drunk” in her online chat room video. Doja also expressed her regret for her controversial song title, stating, “It was in no way tied to anything outside of my own personal experience. It was written in response to people who often used that term to hurt me. I made an attempt to flip its meaning, but recognize that it was a bad decision to use the term in my music.
Noah Schnapp Feud
Doja entered an online feud with the Stranger Things star after he leaked their private messages discussing her crush on his Netflix costar, Joseph Quinn. Noting that young people “so dumb s—t” and “say dumb s—t,” Doja stated in a July 2022 Instagram Live that Schnapp’s actions were “borderline snake s—t,” adding, “That’s like weasel s—t.”
She continued: “I’m not saying that encapsulates his entire personality. I wouldn’t imagine he is. Maybe he is, like, a whole snake. But I didn’t see him that way. I made an assumption that he was gonna be chill about it and he went and shared information that I didn’t feel comfortable with him sharing.”
Later that month, Schnapp clarified that there were no hard feelings between him and Doja. “Guys everything is all good I apologized and I still follow her and love her music no hard feelings ❤️❤️,” he wrote via TikTok at the time.
While the two stars made amends, Doja seemingly lost over 200,000 Instagram followers amid the drama, as Us Weekly reported at the time her follower count dropped from 24.34 million to 24.14 million.
J Cyrus Relationship
Doja was first romantically connected to comedian J Cyrus in November 2022. Her new relationship did not receive the stamp of approval from her fans as many called out Cyrus’ past controversies, including allegedly taking advantage of his female Twitch fans.
In December 2020, Cyrus seemingly apologized for his past actions in a lengthy, since-deleted social media post. “I was careless. I was greedy. I was ignorant. I was disrespectful,” he wrote in a screenshot of the apology reshared by a Twitter user in June 2023.
He continued: “By engaging in flirtatious and provocative personal messages with people that didn’t just see me as a casual fun time, but instead someone they grew to love and trust from admiring them in a community where they felt safe and guarded. I am an adult and im smart enough to know better but I wasn’t strong or respectful enough to be better. No matter how lonely I am, no matter how desperate I was for attention, I was wrong.”
After an Instagram fan account posted about Cyrus’ allegations, Doja clapped back at criticism of her relationship. “I WANT YALL TO READ THIS COMMENT AND TAKE IT AS A MESSAGE,” she wrote in a since-deleted Instagram comment. “I DONT GIVE A F—K WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT MY PERSONAL LIFE I NEVER HAVE AND NEVER WILL GIVE A F—K WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT ME OR MY PERSONAL LIFE GOODBYE AND GOOD RIDDANCE.”
Drama-Filled Fan Interactions
Among many deleted July 2023 Threads posts, Doja called out a fan for using her real name, Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, as the username for their account. “You making my government name ur sn is creepy as f—k,” she wrote at the time.
In addition to slamming her fan base’s nickname and stating she didn’t love them because she doesn’t know them, more fans were quick to fire back at the Grammy winner. “And we don’t know you,” another user posted via Threads. “But we have supported you through thick and thin. Mind you you’d be NOTHING without us.”
After the user claimed that Doja would be “working at a grocery store” without fans’ support, Doja criticized the fan for “talking to me like you’re my mother.” The fallout of the Threads interactions resulted in several of the singer’s top fan accounts deactivating their social media pages.
