Culture

What to Think About the Jimmy Kimmel Kanye West Feud

The big story of last night was Kanye West's Ben Affleck-referencing, Sarah Silverman-praising, meme-filled rant against Jimmy Kimmel, which Kimmel addressed on his show, giggling. How are we supposed to feel about this? Is it even real?

By Esther Zuckerman
Saved Stories
This article is from the archive of our partner .

The big story of last night was Kanye's Ben Affleck-referencing, Sarah Silverman-praising, meme-filled rant against Jimmy Kimmel, which Kimmel addressed on his show, giggling. But with both Kanye and Kimmel's history how should we approach this. Some options.

This has GOT to be a prank right?

It's hard to believe anything associated with Kimmel these days after, well, he tricked us all with the  "worst twerk fail ever" video. Hence, everyone's pretty skeptical about this one. Even the Associated Press is raising an eyebrow, leading their story about the feud by writing "Jimmy Kimmel and Kanye West either are engaged in a bitter feud or a wild parody of one." Meanwhile, Alexander Gleckman wrote at Complex: "Considering Kimmel's track history with parodies, spoofs, and testing people's reactions to things, it wouldn't come too much as a surprise if Kanye was in on this one." Still, there could be a silver lining if this is all a prank, according to Gawker's Rich Juzwiak. "If the Kanye-Kimmel feud is a hoax (and I think it is), it's a sequel to 'I Am a God.' Kanye is cultivating his self-spoofing (I hope)," he wrote on Twitter." 

Kimmel, meanwhile, insisted that it is not a prank, and West hasn't said otherwise so we guess we're forced to believe him until one of them reveals the ruse and makes schmucks out of us all. 

Well, Kimmel kind of deserved it

Slate's Forrest Wickman responded in a perfectly Slate-y way to the whole blow up, writing a piece called: "Kanye West Is Right: Jimmy Kimmel’s Sketch Was Ignorant and Stupid." Wickman argues that Kimmel doesn't really get rap or anything Kanye is talking about so therefore has no right to mock him in the way he did. "But instead of trying to understand, Kimmel does the opposite: He revels in his lack of comprehension, and puts Kanye’s words in the mouth of a child, in order to infantilize him," Wickman writes. "The point of the joke is clear: I don’t understand these remarks, so clearly they are the nonsense talk of a small child." Wickman's piece seems a little forced. Making fun of Kanye's braggadocio is nothing new, even if, well, Kimmel's spoof wasn't really that funny.

Wickman, however, isn't alone in thinking Kimmel was in the wrong, see these reactions to Kimmel's spoof from musician Cobe Obeah and from The Vine's Marcus Teague. Kanye actually has a number of people on his side for this one (even if it is just the blind support of his fans).

Sigh, Kanye

This just seems like old hat for the rapper, who is not one for avoiding conflict or keeping his temper under wraps. As AllHipHop News recalls, West doesn't have a good track record when it comes to handling jokes about himself, famously holding a grudge against South Park after the show mocked him. The tantrum also seemed to win Kimmel some fans last night.

Forget, Kimmel vs. Kanye. How about Martha?

Molly Lambert helpfully reminded us that Martha Stewart had her own Twitter rampage yesterday about Apple and her iPad.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.