The war of words erupted last week (ends11Mar12) following the publication of a new Elle magazine article, in which the actor accused Kardashian and Paris Hilton of making stupidity fashionable.
He said, “We’re at a place where the idea of being elite is somehow considered a negative. Whether it’s Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian or whoever, stupidity is certainly celebrated. Being a f**king idiot is a valuable commodity in this culture because you’re rewarded significantly.”
The reality TV star fired back with a statement she posted online, which read: “I respect Jon and I am a firm believer that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and that not everyone takes the same path in life.
“(But) calling someone who runs their own businesses, is part of a successful TV show, produces, writes, designs and creates ‘stupid,’ is in my opinion careless.”
Hamm responded on Tuesday night (13Mar12) at a Mad Men question-and-answer session in Los Angeles, claiming his remarks have been blown out of all proportion.
He told Access Hollywood, “It’s surprising to me that it has become remotely a story… My quote was simply about that version of television and that version of American culture being celebrated. It’s not something that I particularly enjoy. The quote was obviously taken out of context, but I said what I said. I just wish it had been reported correctly.
“I don’t know Ms. Kardashian; I’ve never met her (and) I would never say anything personally about somebody that I’ve not met.
“What I said was meant to be more on pervasiveness of something in our culture, not personal, but she took offence to it and that is her right.”
