Debra Messing, 53, is speaking out after she wrote a controversial tweet about Kim Kardashian, 40, and her hosting debut on Saturday Night Live. The actress asked, “Why Kim Kardashian?” in her tweet, which was posted on Sept. 22 after news of the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star’s appearance was announced, and is now explaining that she didn’t intend to “troll” anyone while writing it.
“Well, I was not intending to troll her and if anybody took it that way, I apologize,” she said during an appearance on the Tamron Hall Show, which can be seen above. “That was never my intention. She is this phenomenon. I mean, she is a cultural icon.”
“I am someone who grew up with SNL,” she continued. “I love comedy, and they have had, for decades, this sort of formula. And I noticed that they changed the formula, and I was like, ‘Oh, does she have a new TV show coming out? Does she have a book coming out? Is she in a movie?’ And she didn’t have anything coming out. Actually her TV show had just wrapped. So I was just confused.”
Debra went further into detail about why her tweet, which called Kim “a cultural icon” and suggested that SNL hosts are usually “performers who are there to promote a film, TV show, or album launch,” was written the way it was. “You know I have been living under a rock. I don’t have my finger on the pulse of pop culture,” she told Tamron. “So I was like, ‘Okay. Has she been doing something on the side that I’m not aware of because I’ve been so focused on activism?’ And clearly, it was interpreted differently.”
“I watched her and I thought she was amazing, and I was rooting for her,” she added. “If you know me, and you follow me, then you know that I consistently lift up women. I support women. So you know, I hope that people understand that was never my intention.”
Kim hosted the SNL on Oct. 9 and made headlines for an entertaining monologue and various comedy sketches, including one about her sister Kourtney Kardashian. She has yet to speak out about Debra’s words.