In what can only be described as the most dramatic rescue since a soap opera finale, Samantha Rose Baldwin, the 26-year-old actress best known as Shelby Wright on the Gossip Girl reboot, took “cat mom” duties to a whole new level by sprinting through the blazing Palisades fire to rescue her feline overlord, Kitty.
“It was like my brain short-circuited,” Samantha told The Daily Mail. “One moment, I was eating cereal, and the next, I was thinking, ‘Can I save my cat? Also, is my dad wearing socks as he evacuates?’ Multitasking under pressure is my superpower.”
Dad’s Off Saving Kids; Samantha’s Saving Kitty
While her dad, a security guard, heroically evacuated kids from a nearby school (which later burned down like the climax of a disaster movie), Samantha knew her mission: rescue the cat. Traffic, however, had other plans. Staring at a freeway jam that could rival LA’s worst, she ditched her car and decided to jog home like it was a casual, fiery 5K.
“I was running down Sunset Boulevard,” she recalled. “I’m sure some people thought, ‘Oh, cool, another fitness influencer,’ but nope—just a girl running for her life.”
Hide-and-Seek: Cat Edition
When Samantha finally reached her apartment, Kitty was, of course, in the least convenient hiding spot: inside the couch. Yes, inside. “It’s like she watched one disaster movie and thought, ‘I know how to survive this!’” Samantha quipped. After 20 frantic minutes of tugging at furniture and yelling, “Kitty, I’m not leaving without you!” she found her fur baby. She wrapped Kitty in a blanket, stuffed her into a cat carrier backpack (which, let’s face it, sounds like a hipster survival kit), and bolted.
Fire, Smoke, and… a Rolling Suitcase?
Outside, things went full action-movie mode. The fire had closed off her path back to the car, and she found herself caught between flames and the ocean. What’s a girl to do? Run toward the water, obviously, dragging a suitcase behind her like she was late for a flight.
“I was dodging flaming branches and cars, with Kitty strapped to my back like an extremely unhelpful sidekick,” Samantha said. “At one point, I thought, ‘Is this my audition for the next Fast & Furious movie?’”
The Emotional Plot Twist
As she sprinted toward the beach, smoke and ash swirling around her like she was in the apocalypse, Samantha called her mom. “I told her I loved her because, let’s be real, I wasn’t sure if this was my big finale,” she admitted. Thankfully, it wasn’t. Samantha and Kitty made it to safety, where they reunited with her dad.
The Aftermath: Mad Max Meets Cat Mom
Currently recovering at a friend’s house in North Hollywood, Samantha summed up her ordeal: “My body feels like I got into a fight with a bus—and lost. I looked like I’d just stepped off the set of Mad Max with all the ash on me. But hey, my cat is safe, my dad is safe, and I’m alive. I think I deserve a nap… and maybe a medal.”
Samantha, we salute you, Kitty’s lucky you’re not just a regular cat mom—you’re a Gossip Girl cat mom. XOXO.
