- The hashtag #FreeStormy was tweeted by both an animal advocacy group and an online poker company.
- The hashtag started trending on Tuesday afternoon.
Twitter users speculated that the trend was either aboutStormi Webster or Stormy Daniels.
Both
People began using the hashtag to come to the three-year-old Jenner baby's defense, tweeting out memes about Stormi being in jail while others questioned whether Daniels, known for claiming to have an alleged affair with Donald Trump before he became president, had been arrested.
-Def Noodles (@defnoodles) April 27, 2021
DefNoodles, a Twitter account that regularly covers trending topics and social-media influencer drama, posted about the #FreeStormy trending topic on Tuesday and attributed the hashtag to an online poker website's tweet that asked users to use the hashtag to enter a raffle. The poker company, Americas Cardroom, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and it was not clear from the Twitter account why it chose the hashtag.
But Americas Cardroom wasn't the only account spreading the hashtag on Tuesday. A few hours later, an animal advocacy campaign called Show Your Soft Side tweeted about a pit bull named Stormy in Baltimore, Maryland, who needed a home.
-Soft Side (@SoftSide1) April 27, 2021
The tweet read, "#FreeStormy! Adopt sweet goofy girl Stormy from @BARCS_SHELTER. It's the third time she's at the shelter through no fault of her own. This happy wigglebutt thinks she's still a pup & has no idea she's 7. She loves snuggles & giving kisses."
Shortly after both accounts published their initial tweets, the confusion began, and the hashtag started trending Tuesday afternoon. Many Twitter users assumed the hashtag was about Jenner's young daughter and tweeted out pictures of Stormi behind bars.
-mazdawg (@marthareess) April 27, 2021
-THE COOKIN MAMA (@THECOOKINMAMA) April 27, 2021
Some people also assumed the hashtag was about Daniels, who was paid $130,000 in hush money by Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen, during the 2016 presidential campaign. The hashtag has been used by supporters of Daniels in the past, and Twitter users speculated Tuesday and Wednesday that the new iteration of the hashtag was related to the former adult film star.
-Honey Barbeque (@McjiltonTony) April 27, 2021
One Twitter user, @ThePrissAnn, clarified that the trending hashtag was really about the dog, as animal lovers encouraged people to donate to their local shelters and adopt rescue animals.
-Priss Verso, chronically early to everything (@ThePrissAnn) April 27, 2021
Confusion surrounding an amorphous trending hashtag is common on Twitter, where it can be difficult to find the original source of a hashtag.
A representative for the BARCS Animal Shelter in Baltimore, Maryland, where Stormy has been living, told Insider that the tweet "definitely worked," because the dog has multiple families coming to meet her.