Lawyer Rod Ponton ‘happy to let people laugh at his expense’ after appearing on Zoom with cat filter

A TEXAS lawyer who accidentally appeared on a court Zoom call with a cat filter over his face said he is "happy to let people laugh at his expense".

Rod Ponton's Zoom screen showed a gray kitten that blinked when Ponton blinked and spoke when Ponton spoke in a virtual court case.

After thousands shared the hilarious zoom faux pas, the lawyer saw the funny side.

He said: "Well, if I can make everybody have a chuckle at my expense, I'll take it," he said. "We've had a stressful time the last few months."

He added: "It could happen to anybody, but today it happened to me."

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Ponton recalled the moment he realised the call had gone wrong: "Everybody's face popped up except mine, mine was a cat and I thought 'oh'.

"You can't put toothpaste back in the tube. If it's got out, it's gone viral, let it go!"

During the publically streamed Zoom call, Brewster County Judge Roy B. Ferguson told Ponton: "Mr. Ponton I believe you have a filter turned on in the video settings."

"Ahhh," says Ponton, but through the purrfectly synced kitten filter that does little to disguise his heavy Texan accent.

"Can you hear me judge?" asked Ponton in feline-form.

"I can hear you, I think it's a filter," responded Ferguson.

The cat masquerading as Ponton nods.

"It is and I don't know how to remove it," Ponton says in cat form.

Fellow lawyer H. Gibbs Bauer at this point puts on his glasses and squints at the screen to presumably see the cat-ified Ponton. Jerry L. Phillips, the other attorney in the Zoom room, does little to suppress his smile at the odd situation.

"I’ve got my assistant here and she’s trying to remove it but uh," Ponton says. "I'm prepared to go forward with it. I’m here live. I’m not a cat."

"I can see that," Ferguson responds before then giving Ponton instructions on how to rid the filter.

The paws-worthy situation turned catastrophic for Ponton, who said he was unaware the video was made public and that he was not using his own computer for the case.

"Oh, that was just a mistake by my secretary," he told Vice. "I was using her computer and for some reason she had that filter on."

"I took it off and replaced it with my face. It was a case involving a man trying to exit the United States with contraband and contraband cash," Ponton said.

"All it was was a mistake. It was taken off and we had the hearing as normal.”

However, Ferguson took to Twitter to poke fun at the situation a little more.

"IMPORTANT ZOOM TIP: If a child used your computer, before you join a virtual hearing check the Zoom Video Options to be sure filters are off.

"This kitten just made a formal announcement on a case in the 394th (sound on)," he tweeted.

"These fun moments are a by-product of the legal profession's dedication to ensuring that the justice system continues to function in these tough times," he continued.

"Everyone involved handled it with dignity, and the filtered lawyer showed incredible grace. True professionalism all around!"

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