Debra Messing Says She Was 'Rooting' For Kim Kardashian On 'Saturday Night Live,' Explains She Didn't Intend To 'Troll' The Reality Star With Past Tweet
Debra Messing has clarified previous comments she made about Kim Kardashian hosting Saturday Night Live.
"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?" she tweeted when it was reported that the reality star would be overseeing the sketch show.
The 53-year-old appeared on the Tamron Hall Show on Wednesday, October 20, and said that she did not intend to "troll" Kardashian.
"If anybody took it that way, I apologize," the Will & Grace star said. "That was never my intention. She is this phenomenon. I mean, you know, she is a cultural icon."
"I am someone who grew up with SNL," she explained. "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?'"
Messing explained that she was "confused" because she couldn't find anything that Kardashian seemed to be promoting. Keeping Up With The Kardashians came to an end earlier this year and the KarJenner's upcoming Hulu project does not have a release date yet.
"I don't have my finger on the pulse of pop culture. 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," Messing said.
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"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," she added.
Kardashian hosted SNL on October 9 with Halsey joining her as the musical guest.
The KKW Beauty founder's SNL stint was generally well-received. She cracked jokes about her famous family during her monologue.
She quipped that she was "more than the reference photos that my sisters showed their plastic surgeon" and that her split from Kanye West was due to his "personality."
However, the late Nicole Brown's sister Tanya Brown, told TMZ that Kardashian's jokes about O.J. Simpson were "distasteful" and in "poor taste."