Turn on any sporting event, action movie or other masculine-stereotyped television programming. It probably will not take long to see a commercial for Game of War starring Kate Upton. The image of the model riding around in armor on a horse is odd, but Upton has never been one for the ordinary.
After all, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue star got much of her fame from the May 2012 video of her performing the "Cat Daddy." The short clip of Upton shimmying in a skimpy bikini became a YouTube sensation and garnered a serious of slow-motion spinoffs. The original video has over 22 million views:
However, in an interview for Vogue released Tuesday, Upton admitted she was fuming when photography Terry Richardson released the video. It turns out the scene was not in the scripted plans.
"Upton was horrified because the behind-the-scenes video had been filmed for fun, not something she expected would make the final cut," Alexa Chung writes in Vogue.
Upton and Richardson avoided making any confrontation public, and the model embraced the video. Along with her first of two SI Swimsuit Issue cover appearances being in 2012, a 2011 video of Upton doing the dougie at a Los Angeles Clippers game was also spreading. The Cat Daddy video ended up being a perfect storm for pumping up Upton's publicity.
Upton is long over the Cat Daddy fiasco. "Now, obviously, it's fine," she says. Yes, for the most recognizable model in the world, things have worked out.
-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.
