The feud between Sean Hannity, Fox Newsâ resident wannabe MMA fighter, and Jimmy Kimmel reached even greater levels of ridiculousness on Friday, with the self-proclaimed non-journalist repeatedly accusing the late-night host of being âHarvey Weinstein Jr.â
In a series of unhinged tweets, Hannity pointed to clips of Kimmelâs past satirical sketch-comedy series The Man Show, which ran from 1999 to 2004 on Comedy Central, as evidence of his being a âpervertâ and âHarvey Weinstein Jr.â
Late Thursday night, Hannity teased that heâd have âmuch more tomorrowâ concerning Kimmelâs so-called anticsâwhich has thus far consisted of digging up more archival Man Show clips, browsing the showâs Wikipedia page, and referencing a conversation about Kimmel with Disney honcho Bob Iger that may or may not have happened.
For those existing on this planetâand not whatever one Hannity is onâconflating Kimmel and Weinstein isnât just egregious, itâs incredibly irresponsible. Weinstein, a disgraced film mogul, has been credibly accused of rape or sexual harassment by up to 100 women; Kimmel, who has a reputation of being one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, has been accused of rape or sexual harassment by zero women.
And while The Man Show was no doubt problematicâKimmel once boasted of it as âa joyous celebration of chauvinismââitâs harmful to compare a sketch-comedy show, where sketches are often staged, pre-recorded, and participants sign consent forms, with real-life sexual misconduct.
Kimmel indeed fired back on Friday afternoon, tweeting at Hannity, âI vote for whichever one best helps you trivialize the horrors of Harvey Weinstein by comparing them to televised comedy bits in which every woman was a willing participant who gladly signed a release.â
Such behavior is particularly rich coming from Hannity, who repeatedly defended Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore after he was credibly accused of a rash of sexual misconduct; defended Fox News president Bill Shine for allegedly covering up Roger Ailesâ sexual misconduct (Shine was eventually let go from the network); passionately defended Fox News chief Roger Ailes following several sexual-harassment allegations (Ailes was also let go); and hosted Bill OâReilly on his show after it was revealed that OâReilly had settled multiple sexual-harassment suits, with Hannity saying to his predatory pal, âI think you should come back [to Fox News].â
The dust-up between Hannity and Kimmel began when the staunch Trump defender took issue with a joke the comedian made on his Jimmy Kimmel Live! program about Melania Trumpâs accent while reading a childrenâs story during the White House Easter Egg Roll.
âLiberal Jimmy Kimmel making fun of the first lady of the United States and her involvement in the White House Easter Egg Roll, even her accent. Jimmy, youâre a despicable disgrace,â Hannity said, adding that heâs an âass clownâ and arguing that English is Melaniaâs âfifth language. How many do you speak?â
Kimmel, as is his wont, fired back at Hannity during his Thursday night monologue, saying, âThis is the guy who defended multiply alleged pedophile Roy Moore, and Iâm the despicable disgrace? Iâm the ass clown?! If Iâm an ass clown, and I might very well be, you, Sean, are the whole ass circus.â
He continued: âYouâre the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey of ass-clownsmanship, but I do wanna say, I appreciate how compassionate youâve suddenly become to the plight of immigrants in this country over the last 24 hours. Do you know what I think is disrespectful to the first lady? Cheating on her with a porn star after she has a baby. Why donât you rant a little about that, Sean Hannity?â
The funnyman was, of course, referring to porn star Stormy Daniels, whoâs accusing the president of conducting an affair with her mere months after the first lady had their son, Barron.