diff --git a/public/js/chat.js b/public/js/chat.js
index 09810f2..6499300 100644
--- a/public/js/chat.js
+++ b/public/js/chat.js
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ $(document).ready(async () => {
 
     const sendData = async () => {
         const jwt = getCookie("jwt");
-        const author = await fetch(`/api/getUsername`)
+        const author = (await fetch(`/api/getUsername`)).text()
         const content = $("#chat-input").val();
 
         const message = {
diff --git a/src/middlewares/auth.js b/src/middlewares/auth.js
index 891e838..a014ebb 100644
--- a/src/middlewares/auth.js
+++ b/src/middlewares/auth.js
@@ -7,13 +7,17 @@ import UserService from '../services/user.js';
 dotenv.config({path: ".env"});
 
 const authenticate = async (req, res, next) => {
-    const token = req.cookies["jwt"];
-    if (!token || !jwt.verify(token, process.env.SECRET)) {
-        req.session.destroy();
-        res.clearCookie("jwt");
-        return res.redirect("/login");
+    try {
+        const token = req.cookies["jwt"];
+        if (!token || !jwt.verify(token, process.env.SECRET)) {
+            req.session.destroy();
+            res.clearCookie("jwt");
+            return res.redirect("/login");
+        }
+        next();
+    } catch(e) {
+        console.log(e)
     }
-    next();
 };
 
 const validateInviteToken = async (req, res, next) => {