Hello Kitty Girl and UCF Professor Travis Meade Dating Rumor Controversy

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Overview

The Hello Kitty Girl and UCF Professor Travis Meade Dating Rumor Controversy refers to an online controversy surrounding University of Central Florida (UCF) professor Travis Meade who was allegedly dating his female teacher's assistant (TA) allegedly named Kaylee, purportedly resulting in his firing in October 2024. Photos and videos of Professor Meade and "Kaylee" together on campus went viral on Imgur, Reddit and TikTok during the same timeframe. Many likened Kaylee to a Hello Kitty Girl because of her girly outfits and letters she allegedly made for Professor Meade showing Hello Kitty that were taped to his office door. The rumor started on the /r/ucf subreddit where Redditors alleged that the Hello Kitty letters on his door were made by her. They were signed "Kaylee" but the handwriting and coloring looked like that of a child's. Purported photos of the two walking together and touching each other spread online as it continued garnering interest. Discord messages allegedly from the Hello Kitty TA also leaked online as the rumor spread, claiming that Professor Meade left UCF because he was offered a better position at another institution. It was also alleged that "Kaylee" has a fiancé.

Background

Travis Meade is a professor of Computer Science (CS) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, Florida.^[4] According to his public LinkedIn profile,^[5] he's been at UCF since 2015. Since then, multiple posts about Professor Meade have surfaced on the /r/ucf subreddit^[6]^[7] regarding his classes and teaching style.

On October 21st, 2024, Redditor^[9]^[10] PinkDestroyer10 posted to /r/ucf subreddit, asking, "Why was Professor Meade fired?" further clarifying, "Just curious if anyone knows the actual reason 'cause I have heard a few rumors and I wanna know what happened. (I really like tea lol)." The post received 116 upvotes and 81 comments before it was removed.

A comment was posted by Redditor^[9] Mindless-Mango-3724 in the following hours in which they alleged, "I would be in class and his girlfriend (or it looked like that) was the TA … It did feel a bit unprofessional" (shown below).

On October 22nd, 2024, an anonymous Imgur^[3] user shared videos and photos allegedly showing UCF Professor Travis Meade and his unnamed TA, supposedly named Kaylee, who's seen in a girly outfit, including a short dress and a red bow. In many of the photos, the man purported to be Meade is shown touching the TA, like holding her by the arm while walking and helping her with her dress (shown below).

Other photos shared in the Imgur^[3] post showed the Hello Kitty notes purportedly on Professor Meade's office door. In one image (shown below) the phrase "Happy 43st [sic] Birthday Daddie" and a name signed "Kaylee" can be seen.

The photos were mentioned in the original thread on /r/ucf^[9] but many Redditors disputed the claim. For one, Redditor chrissolanilla claimed that Professor Meade "left because he got a good job lined up, he was not dating the TA" (shown below).

Redditor^[9] chrissolanilla further linked to an Imgur^[11] post to prove their point. The Imgur post showed screenshots of Discord messages allegedly from the TA who said that Professor Meade "left because he had a great position lined up that needed him immediately" (shown below).

Others in the original /r/ucf^[9] thread claimed that the Hello Kitty TA had a fiancé, like Redditor _JJCUBER_ who alleged to "know Kaylee and Meade very well" (shown below, top) and provided an Imgur^[12] link to a photo allegedly showing "Kaylee" and her fiancé (shown below, bottom).

Online Reactions

In late October 2024, TikToker^[1] @lifebyoni posted a video, that's since been deleted, in which she wrote, "When everyone is shocked that a professor got fired but his Hello Kitty Girl TA was literally coloring pictures of Hello Kitty and writing 'Happy 43st birthday daddie, I love you' that he would publicly display on his office door." The TikTok earned over 161,400 likes before being deleted per a screenshot from another TikTok^[2] (shown below). The video notably spread the rumor to the new platform.

TikToker^[2] @asmodeusonearth posted the video with the abovementioned screenshot on October 23rd, also including the photos from the Imgur^[3] post. The video received over 301,000 plays and 17,100 likes in a day (shown below).

Later on October 23rd, TikToker^[8] @asmodeusonearth shared another video in which she showed all of the contents of the Imgur^[3] post. The video received roughly 1.5 million plays and 178,100 likes in a day (shown below).

On October 23rd, 2024, TikToker^[12] @cammychristine shared a video about the situation, joking about being a 30-year-old woman in Chicago who's fully invested in the UCF professor and Hello Kitty Girl drama, gaining over 831,700 plays and 55,500 likes in a day (shown below).

Other viral TikToks^[13] reacting to the drama were posted on October 23rd.

Other than on TikTok, the story was shared to 4chan's /g/^[14] on October 23rd, 2024, in which the OP outlined the rumor and shared links. The post received numerous replies in the following days (shown below).