Kesha Says Jerry Seinfeld Refusing to Hug Her in Viral 2017 Video Was the ‘Saddest Moment of My Life’
“I got really excited because he brings me peace and love… and then he didn’t hug me in front of cameras,” said Kesha of Seinfeld
People often say, “Never meet your heroes” — something Kesha learned the hard way.
In a new interview on The Best Show with Tom Scharpling, the pop star reflected on a viral 2017 video of herself asking Jerry Seinfeld for a hug on a red carpet, which he refused to give her — telling the host it was “the saddest day of my life.”
The incident went down on the red carpet of a National Night of Laughter and Song in Washington, D.C., where Kesha, 36, approached Seinfeld, 69, and asked for a hug. “No, thanks,” he told her, before adding after she walked away: “I don’t know who that was.”
Kesha told Scharpling that the event was hosted by the David Lynch Foundation, through which she learned transcendental meditation. “So, [Lynch] was like, ‘Could you do an event that’s a charity event?’ I was in the middle of tour. I was exhausted, but I really love David Lynch, and I heard that Jerry Seinfeld’s gonna to be there,” she recalled.
The “Praying” musician explained that she owned DVDs of Seinfeld and carried them “around the world internationally” while on tour to watch for comfort. “When it got bumpy on planes, I’d pop in Seinfeld and I’d be like, ‘Everything’s OK in the world’ and watch my buddy,” continued Kesha.
“Then, I get to the f—ing charity event, and I got really excited because he brings me peace and love and all things good in the universe, and then he didn’t hug me in front of cameras,” she said. “It was the most depressing and hilarious, but also so sad — it was, like, the saddest moment of my life.”
Shortly after their ill-fated red carpet meeting, Seinfeld opened up to Extra about why he didn’t hug Kesha. “I don’t hug a total stranger. I have to meet someone, say hello. I gotta start somewhere,” said the actor and comedian.
“I’m 63, I don’t know every pop star,” he added at the time, telling the outlet that he spoke to Kesha later in the evening and “laughed” with her about the mishap.
Kesha also previously spoke about the situation following the event, telling SiriusXM’s Hits 1 in Hollywood: “I felt like I was 5 years old.”
“I instantly was like, ‘Oh f— me,” she said in 2017. “I, like, somehow ended up in my very own mini-episode of Seinfeld for like five seconds.”
In the same interview, she admitted, “I should have known better,” and added that it’s “fine” that Seinfeld is “not a huggy guy.”
