8 Forgotten Pop Feuds

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7. John Mayer vs. Jessica Simpson

What ex-girlfriend has John Mayer not feuded with? Yes, he’s in the midst of a little tiff with Taylor Swift, but long before Taylor — and Katy Perry — John enjoyed a fling with Jessica Simpson. In fairness to John, he has seemingly grown up a lot over the past 10 years. Being that he’s pushing 40, that’s a good thing, and probably a little overdue. He’s admitted to being a jerk to women he’s dated in the past: Taylor Swift; Jennifer Aniston; Jessica Simpson. But with Jessica, he completely threw her under the bus publicly, when he offered an interview with Playboy, and referred to Jessica as “sexual napalm.” He went on to express his feelings about her sexually, and how addictive she was. He put her in the category of “crack cocaine.” Jessica didn’t take kindly to these statements, and the short, John vs. Jess feud began.

X17, Inc.

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5. Mariah Carey vs. Nicki Minaj

American Idol was already in its downhill slide toward the end when producers hired Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey to serve as judges on the show, but they multiplied the velocity of the slide with their antics. The two women were incompatible. To begin, both were far more concerned about themselves than they were about any of the contestants on the show. Their vanity was off the charts. And they weren’t shy about going after one another. A couple of women with alpha complexes, not realizing that they were only tarnishing their own legacies with their outlandish behavior, on set, in front of contestants. Perhaps it was a ploy to reengage old American Idol viewers, but it provided little more than a of couple walk-outs, hateful glances, remarks and childish behavior. It was easily forgotten, because nobody watches American Idol anymore.

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3. Katy Perry vs. Miley Cyrus

Here’s Miley again. We’re pretty sure Miley has peeved every one of her peers in the past two years. Remember this one? Nobody is surprised to see that Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry had a little online tiff, but they did, and you likely forgot about it. To refresh your memory, it was born over a kiss that never was. Katy and Miley were in the same place at the same time, and Miley tried to offer a greeting by sticking her tongue down Katy’s throat. Katy was less than thrilled with Miley’s behavior. She later remarked that she had no idea where that tongue had been. Ouch. Miley fired back by reminding Katy she was once married to Russell Brand — a very loaded statement alluding to potential STDs, we’d imagine. Surely, these two went out together later that night to celebrate being the top trend on Twitter during the day.

Photo by Stewart Cook / Rex Features

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2. L.L. Cool J vs. M.C. Hammer

Why pick on M.C. Hammer? Well… for good reason. Hammer started making money selling tapes out of the back of his car in Oakland — much respect — unfortunately, he took a few shots at east coast legends early in his rap career, before the monster release of Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em. This came from frustrations with east coast radio executives who wouldn’t play his music. Foolishly, Hammer directed his ire at east coast rappers like Run-D.M.C. In truth, Hammer had a legitimate beef with people who wouldn’t play west coast music on air, but then he opened his mouth and took a shot at L.L. Cool J after Waking With a Panther failed to sell to industry expectations. L.L. hit back with a little something called “To Da Break of Dawn,” in which he drops hammers on Hammer, and several others.

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James Sheldon