Debra Messing Responds to Backlash Surrounding Her Kim Kardashian ‘SNL’ Tweet

Debra Messing didn’t mean to “troll” Kim Kardashian with her tweet last month about the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star hosting Saturday Night Live. The Will & Grace star addressed her controversial tweet on Tamron Hall Wednesday, explaining that she simply was questioning what Kardashian’s hosting gig was tied to, not the reality personality’s ability to host in general. 

“Well, I was not intending to troll her, and you know if anybody took it that way, I apologize. That was never my intention. She is this phenomenon. I mean, you know, she is a cultural icon,” Messing told Tamron Hall. In September, Messing wrote of the announcement of Kardashian’s hosting gig, “Why Kim Kardashian? I mean, I know she is a cultural icon, but SNL has hosts, generally, who are performers who are there to promote a film, TV show, or album launch. Am I missing something?” 

The actress continued to Hall that as someone who grew up watching SNL, she’s familiar with the “formula” of celebrities hosting to promote something they’re working on. “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,” Messing continued. “Actually, her TV show had just wrapped. So, I was just confused.”

The Wedding Date actress joked she has “been living under a rock” when it came to pop culture. “So, I was like, ‘OK. Has she been doing something on the side that I’m not aware of because I’ve been so focused on activism?’” Messing said. “And clearly, it was interpreted differently.” The star did tune in to see Kardashian host and thought the KKW Beauty co-founded did “amazing.” Messing 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.”

Kardashian was widely praised for her monologue, which took aim at her famous family, O.J. Simpson and even estranged husband Kanye West. “I married the best rapper of all time. Not only that, he’s the richest Black man in America, a talented, legit genius, who gave me four incredible kids,” she said. “So when I divorced him, you have to know it came down to just one thing: his personality.”