Mashable
The 6 best celebrity feuds of a very petty year
BY TRICIA GILBRIDE
December 31, 2016
For a lot of us, famous and normals alike, 2016 was a narrative we would like to be excluded from and that we never asked to be a part of.
But if nothing else, it was a great year for celebrity gossip. Thanks to social media, egos and impulse control had a banner year — for better and most certainly for worse. Here are the best celebrity feuds of a very petty year.
6. Selena Gomez vs. Justin Bieber
IMAGE: DARREN CALABRES/AP
Jelena is over, but the wounds haven’t healed.
Gomez defended Beliebers that were upset by a series of photos Bieber Instagrammed of his girl of the moment, Sofia Richie, commenting, “If you can’t handle the hate then stop posting pictures of your girlfriend lol.”
Bieber responded writing, “It’s funny to see people that used me for attention and still try to point the finger this way. Sad. All love.” Eventually, Gomez Snapchatted an apology, because feuds are now a cross-platform affair.
Bieber eventually deleted his Instagram account and Gomez went on a social media hiatus while she worked on her mental health. This is an extremely rare case where both parties seemingly learned from the experience and grew, or at least learned to bicker privately out of the view of their devoted Beliebers and Selenators.
5. Mariah Carey vs. Jennifer Lopez (still) and Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato intervened in one of history’s greatest, most mysterious diva feuds and sided against Mariah Carey. Carey, who cannot bested in these matters, responded the only way a queen on her level can, “I don’t know her, either.” Ouch.
4. Kim Kardashian vs. Bette Midler, Piers Morgan, Chloë Grace Moretz, etc.
IMAGE: MASHABLE COMPOSITE. MARC PIASECK/GETTY. ROBIN MARCHANT/GETTY.
Twitter has a lovely way of bringing people together!
Bette Midler’s distaste for Kim Kardashian’s nude selfie habit became an unexpected Twitter feud that just wouldn’t go away. Grumpy guts Piers Morgan declared the death of feminism. Chloë Grace Moretz invoked the wrath of the Kardashians. Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus and Emily Ratajkowski were on #TeamKim, applauding her ownership of her own sexuality and taking topless selfies in solidarity.
Later in the year, the chicken that Midler named after Kardashian died of a yeast infection. RIP, Kim Kardashian. Moretz made peace with the situation thanks to some sage advice from Hillary Clinton.
Which brings us to…
3. Debra Messing vs. Susan Sarandon
IMAGE: MASHABLE COMPOSITE. CHRIS PIZZELLO/AP. DENNIS VAN TINE/AP.
There’s nothing quite like a feud between two fiery, redheaded, liberal actresses who, deep down, want pretty much the same thing. Susan Sarandon was Bernie or Bust. Debra Messing was #WithHer. They were ferociously opposed to each other in a feud that outlived both of their candidates’ bids for the White House.
Things started getting messy after Sarandon told MSNBC that she believed Hillary Clinton was “more dangerous” than Donald Trump.
After a little good-natured if slightly combative back and forth on Twitter, Messing retweeted this message: “@DebraMessing = national treasure. @SusanSarandon = national embarrassment.” Messing undid the retweet, but the damage was done. Kirstie Alley got involved, because why not!
And if you think things died down after the election, well…
JESUS CHRIST. NOW she wants to give racist, islamophobic, homophobic, sexist,mysogynists a chance!”Pure” 4 Bernie. FUCK everyone else. https://twitter.com/kurteichenwald/status/798591389000822784 …
2. Kanye West vs. Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose
January 2016 feels like a lifetime ago now, especially in Kanye years. Yeezy’s first big tweet storm of the year began the way things do for narcissists — he made something that was not actually about him into something that was totally about him.
West interpreted Khalifa’s tweet about “kk” as a reference to Kim Kardashian, when he was actually referring to his weed strain, Khalifa Kush. Before the simple misunderstanding was corrected, West went off, calling Khalifa “corny” among other things and even taking credit for the life of the child Khalifa has with their mutual ex, Amber Rose. But West was at least able to acknowledge that #WizWearsCoolPants. Rose got involved, siding with Khalifa, and shut things down with the hashtag heard ’round the world: #FingersInTheBootyAssBitch.
1. Kimye vs. Taylor Swift
It all started with the purest of all American pastimes: defending the jaw-dropping talent and creative vision of Beyoncé. Years after Barack Obama got involved, Swift and West seemed to make their own version of an uncomfortable peace with the situation, because little matters more in the world of celebrity than risking an uncomfortable photo op at the Met Gala or losing custody of a Hadid sister.
And then Yeezy plugged in that aux cable.
“I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/ Why? / I made that bitch famous.”
The ‘Ye said/Tay said that followed exploded on Twitter and, certainly, in top tier models’ group texts. Eventually, after firing a warning, Kardashian Snapchatted Swift and West’s infamous phone call.
It didn’t matter that Kim didn’t actually Snapchat evidence of Taylor’s verbal approval of being called a bitch — the part that Swift claimed she objected to. What Kardashian revealed was more telling — the people were salivating for a Taylor Swift takedown and this is certainly what they came for.
But there are no losers here, because three of the most famous people in the world all got even more faaaaaamous. And that’s what it’s really about.
