Jimmy Kimmel Was ‘So Happy’ About Kanye West Twitter Feud
Jimmy Kimmel has nothing but fond memories of that one time when he and Kanye West were locked in a headline-making, no-holds-barred Twitter feud back in 2013.
In a new interview with GQ for the magazine’s February issue, the late night host reminisces about the incident with excitement.
“I live for moments like that,” he said. “When I got in a Twitter battle with Kanye, I was so happy. My wife makes fun of me. She’s like, ‘You are so happy right now.’ I’m absolutely beaming. I feel very confident in a situation like that.”
Back in September 2013, Kimmel ran a parody sketch on his show making fun of West’s then-recent BBC interview, in which the rapper claimed he was the “biggest” rock star in the world.
“Does Kanye West know he’s not supposed to be his own hype man?” Kimmel asked as he introduced the clip, which featured two kids standing in for West and BBC Radio 1’s Zane Lowe, sipping on milkshakes and recreating the interview.
West did not take kindly to the spoof and launched into a Twitter tirade two days later, typing all-caps tweets lambasting the talk show host.
“JIMMY KIMMEL IS OUT OF LINE TO TRY AND SPOOF IN ANY WAY THE FIRST PIECE OF HONEST MEDIA IN YEARS,” West fired off his first tweet, to which Kimmel responded, “Apparently @KanyeWest is VERY VERY ANGRY with me…”
What followed was a flurry of tweets back-and-forth between the pair, including ones in which West called Kimmel a “manipulative media motherfucker” and infamously used the hashtags #NoDisrespectToJimmyKimmel and #AllDisrespectToJimmyKimmel.
Kimmel and West finally put their feud to rest when the rapper appeared as a guest on Kimmel’s show this past October, and West’s wife Kim Kardashian even read a series of the rapper’s tweets during the “Mean Tweets” segment of Jimmy Kimmel Live! in honor of the host’s 50th birthday.
“When somebody makes a truly offensive joke to me, I love them a little bit more,” Kimmel told GQ. “If it’s just offensive, it’s no good. But there’s nothing better than when something emotional or serious is going on, maybe it’s a wedding toast, and somebody funny leans over and whispers something terrible into your ear. I live for those moments. I live for being the one who does the whispering.”