Madison Malone Kircher found the song to be "an excellent fit for Swift" due to her love of cats, despite being "a far cry from the tracks on her '80s-pop-inspired ... album". Tessa Berenson of Time wrote that Swift "may have outdone herself" by duetting with Kudrow, suggesting that Swift's next album should be a cover album of Phoebe songs. Rachel Paige of HelloGiggles declared that it would be difficult for Swift to ever top this moment, while HuffPost contributor Stephanie Marcus called Swift's decision to perform with Kudrow " genius" and "glorious". A critic for The New Zealand Herald described the rendition as "a whole new – and slightly surreal – experience to see it performed with pop royalty in front of a huge stadium audience." Fan recordings of the performance became very popular on the Internet being heavily circulated on social media, with both Swift and "Smelly Cat" trending on Facebook and Twitter, respectively, the following morning. The videos quickly earned millions of views, becoming the most viral guest performance from the tour. Time ranked the performance Swift's seventh best moment of 2015. However, Vice's Mitchell Sunderland questioned whether Swift's target demographic of fans born in and after 1999 were truly familiar with Kudrow and the song. As of 2016, E. G. Daily sometimes performs the song during her shows. To commemorate the show's 25th anniversary in September 2019, a flash mob of 25 women dressed as Phoebe assembled in New York's Union Square and performed "Smelly Cat". In tribute to the character, each woman donned a suede fringe jacket, blonde wig, and guitar, replicating one of Phoebe's outfits from the series. The impersonators also sang the song at each location they stopped, including The Today Show, WPIX TV and Grand Central Station. The performers used the occasion to raise awareness for pet rescue and encourage witnesses to adopt a cat, on behalf of the Best Friends Animal Society. During Friends 2021 reunion television special, Kudrow performed a special rendition of "Smelly Cat" with Lady Gaga. Legacy "Smelly Cat" has since been established as a fan and cult favorite. Although Phoebe performs nearly 40 original songs over Friends' ten-year run, "Smelly Cat" is considered her breakout hit and signature song, as well as "her most famous creation". According to The Times of India, Phoebe made the song "real and iconic at the same time" to the point at