Ten years is ample time for people to fight with each other. Hot people! Famous people! Problematic people! It’s also ample time for you to have forgotten that these people fought with each other and that it was fun for us, plebeians with no real stake in the fight, to watch from the wings. The artist and beauty-product peddler versus the tech CEO. The figure skater versus the figure skater. Kim Kardashian versus, well, a lot of people. Here are ten of our favorite feuds from the last decade.
Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell
Their beef: This feud technically started in 2006, but it only accelerated in the 2010s. Much of it went down on Twitter, where Donald Trump’s list of insults included pitying the parents of Rosie O’Donnell’s then-fiancée, Michelle Rounds, who “are devastated at the thought of their daughter being with Rosie,†coming after Cher for calling out Mitt Romney and declaring her a “like Rosie total loser,†and calling O’Donnell “crude, rude, obnoxious and dumb.†In 2014, Megyn Kelly, while moderating a Republican-primary debate, asked Trump about describing women as “fat pigs,†“dogs,†“slobs†and “disgusting animals.†He said he only described O’Donnell that way.
Beef status: Steak tartare. I’m not going to explain this further; you fully know how these two people feel about each other.
Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey
Their beef: Both artists were brought on to judge American Idol in 2013, where they reportedly did not vibe. Video surfaced of the two fighting during auditions in North Carolina. “I told them, ‘I’m not f—ing putting up with her f—ing highness over there,’†Nicki Minaj says in the footage.
Beef status: The impossible burger. “I’m not going to get into what it was, but let’s just say I don’t think they had any intentions for us to have a good experience doing that show. Pitting two females against each other wasn’t cool,†Carey told an Australian radio show in 2015, calling it a “nonexistent feud.â€
Taylor Swift and Katy Perry
Their beef: Katy Perry tried to hire some of Taylor Swift’s backup dancers, which Swift described to Rolling Stone as Perry trying “to sabotage an entire arena tour.†The song “Bad Blood†on Swift’s album “1989†is about their feud. In 2016, Swift released all of her music on Spotify on the exact same day as Perry’s album “Witness†was released.
Beef status: Well done. The two formally buried the hatchet in Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down†music video where the two, dressed as a hamburger and french fries, hugged it out and made peace. Prior to that, Perry sent Swift a literal olive branch and Swift, in return, sent cookies with the message “Peace at last.â€
Kim Kardashian and Bette Midler and Chloë Grace Moretz and Pink
Their beef: Back in 2016, Kim Kardashian tweeted a nude selfie, which prompted Bette Midler to tweet, “If Kim wants us to see a part of her we’ve never seen, she’s gonna have to swallow the camera.†(Rude, Bette.) “[I] know it’s past your bedtime but if you’re still up and reading this send nudes #justkidding,†Kardashian replied. Midler replied, telling Kardashian she couldn’t take a joke. The selfie also prompted Chloë Grace Moretz, then 19, to tweet, “I truly hope you realize how important setting goals are for young women, teaching them we have so much more to offer than just our bodies.†Pink got involved after tweeting a screenshot of an iPhone note praising women who don’t use their bodies — specifically their “tits and asses†— as capital. “Honestly, she went in on Bette Midler, and if you go in on Bette Midler, you’re going to hear from me,†she told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live a year later.
Beef status: Medium rare. Midler used the viral moment to fundraise for Stages for Success, which helps update schools with outdated auditoriums and has been quiet about it since. Pink bringing shit up a year after the fact seems like an indication she wasn’t letting things go. In 2018, Kardashian sent perfume gifts from her new line to her “haters,†including Pink. That same year, Moretz told Refinery29 the fight was a “dead story†she was done talking about.
Evan Lysachek and Johnny Weir
Their beef: Ice-skating drama is clearly the best kind of drama. Johnny Weir was not selected for the Smucker’s Stars on Ice tour in 2010, a decision he claims was made because he wasn’t “family friendly.†Evan Lysachek said it had everything to do with talent. Namely Weir’s lack of it. Weir then called Lysachek a “slore†— ah, 2010 — and encouraged people not to vote for him on Dancing With the Stars.
Beef status: Cooked. Lysacheck later apologized via a statement to People: “I let my personal feelings cloud my judgment in how I answered a journalist’s question about Stars on Ice and Johnny that I should never have answered, I should have known better.â€
Ryan Murphy and Kings of Leon
Their beef: Ryan Murphy wanted to use one of the band’s songs on Glee, which they declined. He called them “self-centered assholes†in a THR cover story in 2011. (The group appeared in an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia spoofing Murphy’s show.) Nathan Followill responded on Twitter by telling Murphy to “see a therapist, get a manicure, buy a new bra.â€
Beef status: Overdone. Murphy later apologized and said he’d remain a Kings of Leon fan. The band told Rolling Stone they were happy to bury the hatchet.
Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan
Their beef: Kelly Ripa was told Michael Strahan was leaving their show right before they went live on air with the announcement. (He was leaving for Good Morning America.) She was, apparently, none too pleased about that and then promptly took several days off from hosting the show to seethe. Uh, er, I mean she took several days off for a vacation that she had totally planned in advance. After the news, reports started to surface that the pair had beefed the whole time they worked together.
Beef status: Medium well. “I learned through all that went down with that, you can’t convince people to like you,†Strahan told Time this year. The two are no longer in contact.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Martha Stewart
Their beef: Back in 2013, TMZ asked if she or Gwyneth Paltrow was the better lifestyle coach. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, you have to live to be a coach,†Martha Stewart said. The next year, her magazine ran a spread featuring “Conscious Uncoupling Pie,†a dig at Paltrow’s separation from Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Also in 2014, Stewart said Paltrow “just needs to be quiet. She’s a movie star. If she were confident in her acting, she wouldn’t be trying to be Martha Stewart.†Paltrow then poached her new Goop CEO from Stewart’s company. “If I’m really honest, I’m so psyched that she sees us as competition. I’m so psyched. I really am,†Paltrow told Us Weekly.
Beef status: Sustainably farmed for long-term sustainability. “I don’t follow Goop,†Stewart said on an episode of Alex Rodriguez’s podcast in 2019. “Sometimes I look at products that she’s selling … I wish every young entrepreneur well and I hope that there are many, many, many different kinds of entrepreneurs … if they’re movie stars or hardworking women like I am, who are not movie stars. If they have a good idea, I want them to be able to succeed. So, good luck, Gwyneth.†Good luck, Gwyneth!
Pusha-T and Drake
Their beef: The two have a years-long history of firing lyrical shots at each other. (Highsnobiety dates the origins of their feud back to a “a dispute over a Birdman song called ‘What Happened to That Boy’†over 15 years ago.) In a particular moment of petty, Drake included the lyric on “Duppy Freestyle†saying Pusha-T owes him money because the diss track would only drive sales for him. On Twitter, Pusha-T told Drake to send him an invoice … which he actually did. (It was for $100,000.) In May 2018, Pusha-T dropped “The Story of Adidon.†The album artwork was an image of Drake in blackface — Drake later said the photo was from “a project that was about young black actors struggling to get roles, being stereotyped and type cast†— and the lyrics claimed he had fathered a child with a former adult-film star, calling him a “deadbeat.â€
Beef status: Seared. Pusha-T told Vanity Fair in June 2018 the feud was over. “These conversations have been had and, to my knowledge, it’s all over. It’s all over with.â€
Azealia Banks and Elon Musk
Their beef: In August 2018, Azealia Banks posted a series of Instagram Stories claiming she’d been waiting in Elon Musk’s house waiting for Grimes — his then-girlfriend — to show up and work on a musical collaboration. When the couple finally arrived, Banks says Grimes “coddled†Musk, who was feeling bad about tweets he’d allegedly sent while on acid. For “being too stupid not to go on Twitter while on acid,†Banks wrote in a now-deleted Instagram Story. (Musk, through a representative, denied the acid allegations to New York.) Earlier in the month, Musk had tweeted he was considering taking Telsa private, at $420 a share. Banks claimed she’d heard him talking about how he did not actually have funding secured to do so. Musk later told Gizmodo he’d never spoken to Banks.
Beef status: Ground up, Saran Wrapped, and sitting in a meat locker waiting to be thawed. The SEC settled charges with Musk in September over his “funding secured†tweet, hitting him and Teslas with $40 million in fines and forcing Musk to step down from his role as chairman for at least three years. Back in August 2018, after the initial drama, Banks told Rolling Stone she was done talking about Musk. She had also issued an apology. In January 2019, she posted on Instagram claiming she still had “dirt to spill on Elon,†so it seems possible this feud could continue to entertain us in the future.
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