Celebs Who Can't Stand Kirstie Alley
Actress Kirstie Alley is opinionated and in-your-face, and that's not for everyone. An outspoken Scientologist, the former Cheers star has made a name for herself as a Dancing With The Stars contestant, a self-referential and self-described Fat Actress, and a particularly temperamental Twitter personality.
Whether Alley is mouthing off on psychiatric drugs, dissing the recently deceased Stephen Hawking, accidentally getting embroiled in New Jersey politics, spending upwards of $40,000 to feed her potentially unethical pets of choice, ferociously defending the Church of Scientology, or beefing with professional dancers with whom she was once close, the Veronica's Closet star has never shied away from saying what she believes, even if it cost her work in Hollywood, credibility with the general public, or support from other stars and friends.
Here are just a few people who absolutely can't stand Alley ... and for almost all of them, the feeling seems pretty mutual.
Leah Remini shuns the shunner
Kirstie Alley is a loud and proud Scientologist, and when former Scientologist Leah Remini began her campaign to essentially expose and potentially take down the Church of Scientology, Alley lashed out.
"When you are generalizing, and when your goal is to malign and to say things about an entire group — there are tens of millions of Scientologists in the world — when you decide to blanket statement that 'Scientology is evil,' you are my enemy," Alley told Howard Stern (via Us Weekly) in 2013. "I have blocked her on Twitter," the Emmy-winning actress admitted to Stern. "Because she's a bigot."
Never one to back down, Remini was diplomatic, but clear in where she stood on the feud. She told People in November 2015 of Alley's harsh claim, "I understood it. I understood it because I know the policy. I understand that hiding behind, you know, religious bigotry is the route to go ... I know why she thinks she's angry with me, and I know, again, hiding behind that veil is something that is per [Scientology] policy. They see me as an enemy ... I respect her beliefs and that it works for her and you can also respect somebody who was in the church for 30-plus years who maybe had a different experience ... If I did [see Alley] I wouldn't say anything because I know she couldn't talk to me. I'm shunned."
Maksim Chmerkovskiy says she's entitled to [her] own insanity
Dancing With The Stars is one of the only reasons Alley has been relevant in this decade — and she had a falling out with her partner on the show, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, reportedly due to his closeness with Jennifer Lopez.
"She stopped getting along with me," Chmerkovskiy told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live (via E! Online) in 2014. "We had a great relationship...But I got a message now that I am associating with other people that she can't be associated with, I am no longer to be spoken with, and sorry, but it is what it is." That person was allegedly, according to Us Weekly, J.Lo, who is best friends with Leah Remini, an aforementioned Alley and Scientology nemesis.
"I think the world of her," the fancy footworker insisted. "I'm not judging people by their religion. I'm Jewish. I don't really believe in science fiction, but whatever ... It's sad that we've gone through so much together, and I feel like I've helped her. And this is where we're at now. But I still think the world of her, and I wish her all the best."
In 2016, he clarified to Us Weekly, "Scientology happened. You can thank [my friendship with] Leah Remini for that. A note was sent to a friend telling me I was 'disconnected,' as in, I am no longer allowed to be Kirstie's friend. I find it ridiculous for an adult human being to 'disconnect' from someone. But everyone is entitled to their own insanity."
MeToo and Time's Up activists are done with Alley
Alley dubbed the Time's Up and #MeToo movements "witch hunts."
"What the hell is happening? We now live in a country where people lose their jobs when accused of something without proof or trial or in some cases with anonymous accusers? Can't confront your accuser?" she tweeted (recounted by TooFab) in November 2017. "It hurts the real victims of abuse [...] and innocent people."
"I'm an advocate of courts of law [for] criminal matters. Also innocent until proven guilty is a fairly sane concept that I'm pretty sure each of us would like to be afforded," she continued. "Rumors cause witch hunts. Seems ok to be part of the mob until [you] become the next witch." And finally: "We all believe things we know NOTHING about at times & would be be quick to pull the trigger out of disgust & anger. This is why we have judges & juries instead of stonings & stake burnings ... guess we are attempting justice."
None of this sat very well with her followers.
"Seriously? Were you there when we were threatened with losing our jobs? Or when we did report it & got fired? Or when we did report it & were told that because of his position in the company we wouldn't be believed? We come forward now because there's strength in numbers #metoo," one fan replied. Another wrote, "That moment when you realize @kirstiealley has blocked you on Twitter ... Probably because I called her out on her disgusting outlook on RAPE."
Tom Cruise allegedly isn't a fan
In her Scientology tell-all Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood And Scientology, Leah Remini revealed that Scientology poster-boy Tom Cruise wasn't a fan of Alley, nor of Alley's Look Who's Talking (1989) co-star John Travolta. "I heard that Tom [Cruise] didn't like them," Remini wrote in her book Troublemaker (via Vulture). Indeed, not only were Alley and Travolta not members of Cruise's exclusive clique, they also, despite their high rankings within the Church of Scientology, weren't invited to Cruise's high-profile wedding to Katie Holmes.
Still, Cruise has never publicly dissed Alley — and Alley has come to his defense in the past. When a 2012 Vanity Fair story alleged that Cruise "auditioned" women to be his girlfriends in a matchmaking setup through the Church of Scientology, Alley slammed the report.
"I think whenever you have articles written that are third and fourth parties' opinions – it's like the game 'Gossip' and you don't get the truth — I think that a magazine of that caliber should have interviewed him, and then they would get the truth," she told Entertainment Tonight. "I think that probably all religions sound bizarre to the people who are not the practitioners of them ... To me it's so normal, and probably 90 percent of the crazy stuff I hear isn't true."
Perez Hilton has threatened to sue
Let's be clear: Perez Hilton is pretty much a professional troll, and though he can't stand Alley, she had every reason to detest him right back. Digital Spy reported in September 2009 that Alley went after Hilton on Twitter (where else?) for the vile nature of the content on his blog, which often featured vulgar Microsoft Paint-edited images and flat-out bullying of stars. After quite a few digs at Alley about her weight, she'd had enough ... and in true Alley form, was over the top and a bit incoherent with her response.
"PH is discusting [sic] ... drawing nasty stuff on young girls photos ... makes me vomit. I think PH is the reason people slug people..he is a giant glob of NASTY...last one I would pull out of the flames," she wrote. "I honestly can't understand why ANYONE would follow him ... but then, I don't get why the KKK exist or nazis or warts or maggots or pink pigs."
She continued, "PH has lost his soul ... that's rock bottom ... I actually feel sorry for him...NOT REALLY, I'M LYING ... lol. He IS mean ALWAYS ... but NEVER CLEVER ... or FUNNY ... he is a dime a dozen bully ... PH is living proof that 1,399,000 people CAN BE IDIOTS."
Hilton threatened to sue Alley after she publicly called him a pedophile on Twitter and accused him of peddling child pornography on his site after he posted inappropriate photos of underage celebrities.
Kelly Preston asked her, Are you flirting with my husband?
Though Alley is civil with Kelly Preston now, for years the actress and wife of John Travolta loathed her for hitting on Travolta during their time as co-stars in Look Who's Talking (1989), Look Who's Talking Two (1990), and Look Who's Talking Now (1993).
"First of all, I'm obviously not the only woman in the world that's in love with John Travolta. He's a very generous person," Alley admitted to Howard Stern in 2013 (via Radar Online). "If you ever talk to John, and this is genuine with him, you will become the most interesting thing that he's ever met in his life. He so wants to know who you are, what you've done. He's really really interested in people. And he's obviously very handsome ... He's very gamey. He and I will sit around doing skits and acting stupid. He's not afraid to act stupid. He'll do dumb skits, is the best way to put it ... We both wanted to [act on it], definitely."
She continued, "It took me years to not look at John as a romantic interest. [Now], I'm best friends with his wife [Preston], and that took a while. Because in the beginning she would bust me, like, 'Are you flirting with my husband?' And the answer was 'yes.'"
George Lopez shouldn't have tweeted
Comedian George Lopez poked fun at all of the Dancing With The Stars contestants in March 2011, but People reported that he specifically angered Alley when he alluded that she was a pig and said she "did a nice job, her little hooves tapping away."
"Don't worry about George's comments," she tweeted to her fans at the time. "Just remember what happens to the big bad, drunk woolf [sic] ... falls in a boiling pot of vodka. Piggy laughs." (Uh, yikes.)
Lopez apologized first on Twitter, writing, "I misjudged the joke. No malice was intended and I apologize to Kirstie." Alley replied with a low blow of her own, writing, "@GeorgeLopez I don't need or want [your] apology. I want your kidney dude . ..on behalf of ur X [sic] and all the women uv [sic] insulted ... give it back." (Lopez's ex-wife donated a kidney to him five years before they divorced.)
He later told Access Hollywood that it was "poor form on [his] part," adding, "I wish that she had [accepted the apology] ... She has a lot of fans and when you make a joke of that type ... it never goes over well. I blame my Spanx for cutting off my circulation to my brain, and that's all I'll say about that."
After that — and a flower-delivery — Alley forgave him, writing, "Take life as lightly as u can and then move on. Even u George ....u are forgiven."
Joy Behar won the one-sided beef
The New York Post reported that Alley attacked The View host Joy Behar relentlessly on Twitter in early 2010, calling her all sorts of names we can't repeat because we're polite, save to say she gave the comedian the less-than-affectionate nickname of "Joy Bewhore."
When fans warned Alley that her cyberbullying wasn't cool, she simply doubled down, writing that Behar allegedly "already went after me several times .... she trashes some celeb every night on her HLN show and every day on The View."
Behar didn't bother responding until days later, tweeting, "Kirstie Alley calls me Joy Bewhore. Compliments! Compliments!"
It turns out that jealousy and Machiavellian impulses may have been behind Alley's otherwise inexplicable, mostly one-sided Behar-beef. A source told Star in 2013, "Kirstie loves TV and wants badly to land a permanent gig — she tried to get a talk show deal on her own but didn't get any bites. She thinks The View would be a great fit for her brand of brash outspokenness [...] Kirstie loves the idea that she'll be able to take part in rapid-fire ad-libbing, which she's great at."
The insider added, "She's so hungry for the job that she's been sending Barbara Walters audition tapes and buttering her up in gushy emails. [...] Kirstie is confident she can get a lock on one of the open slots [...] She's bending over backwards to ingratiate herself to the remaining women, and she's playing up her experience on TV."
Spoiler alert: "Bewhore" won.
Shelley Long is short on love for Alley
Kirstie Alley replaced actress Shelley Long on Cheers in 1987, propelling Alley into stardom and kickstarting a longstanding feud between the actresses.
"Kirstie was furious when she starred on Cheers and producers decided to bring Shelley back as a guest star," a source told The National Enquirer, who added that Long wasn't too kind to Alley during her guest spot. "Kirstie hated playing second fiddle to Shelley and never forgave her for treating her rudely when she returned to the set."
When the time came for Alley's self-titled TV Land series, Kirstie, producers suggested inviting Long for a guest starring appearance, but Alley refused.
"Kirstie was absolutely stunned when TV Land suggested Shelley be on the series," the source said. "Along with starring on the sitcom, Kirstie is also one of its executive producers, and she said there's no way in hell that she'd bring Shelley onto her show."
The insider continued, "Kirstie wasn't particularly fond of Shelley when she came back to the show that made her a star, so she's not even entertaining the idea of bringing Shelley on to her new show. It's Kirstie's show and Kirstie's rules — and that means no Shelley Long."
Tim Gunn took aim at Alley's sizing claims
Alley lost a lot of weight during her tenure on Dancing With The Stars, but some believe she greatly exaggerated just how much her body shrunk — though, let's be real, she looks incredible regardless.
"Before Dancing With The Stars, I bought these dresses from size 14 to 4... all the same dress, and I said, 'You know what I really want? I really wanna be in this dress in a 4," she said to Entertainment Tonight (and recounted by Hollywood Reporter). Alley took pride in her allegedly being a size 4 at the conclusion of her time on the show.
However, Project Runway judge Tim Gunn wasn't so quick to buy what Alley was selling. "I think she's between an 8 and a 10," he told Tampa's Play 98.7 That Guy Kramer morning show (via Radar Online). "There is a phenomenon out there right now that I call the lying deceptive shell game of vanity sizing. In fact a 4 is really a 6 or an 8. In our heads, we're all a double-zero!"
He explained, "We took a size 8 dress from 1980, one from 1990, and one from 2000, and compared them — the difference between them was two and a half inches in the waist alone! But she looks fabulous," he assured. "People are too size conscious."
Tippi Hedren thinks Alley is for the birds
Alley adores her pet lemurs, but not everyone is too keen on the critters living in captivity or being domesticated.
"I started out [having] lemurs because they are a great animal, and I was very interested in conservation in Madagascar [where they are from] and saving rainforests and forests," Alley told People in 2016. "It's actually really easy in Los Angeles, because the climate is almost identical. And then I just fell in love with them."
She added, "Lemurs live a long time — about 30 years — so it's a huge responsibility. You have a dog, and it lives for 15 years if you're lucky, but lemurs live for 30 years or more and they eat all organic, and you have to keep them meticulous. I actually have a full-time animal caretaker. It's just on my payroll!"
But screen legend and animal activist Tippi Hedren isn't impressed with Alley's commitment to the creatures as pets. She fumed to The National Enquirer that Alley keeping lemurs as pets was "irresponsible." Hedren explained, "These creatures need to be in their natural habitat — and I would tell Kirstie that myself. We cannot give wild animals the one thing that they need ... She is setting a bad example."
The entire U.S. Olympic curling team. No, really.
Yes, you read that right: even the Olympic Curling Team has beef with Kirstie Alley.
Instead of supporting the U.S. Olympic curling team at the 2018 Winter Games that February, Alley decided to publicly diss the sport — even though they'd taken home the gold medal for the first time ever.
"I'm not trying to be mean but...... Curling is boring," she wrote in a since-deleted tweet (via People).
The curling team didn't take it lying down and issued a gold medal-worthy drag in response, tweeting from their Team Shuster account (named for team captain John Shuster), "We're not trying to be mean either but your movies weren't exactly riveting theater Kirstie. #justsaying #curling #rockit #TeamUSA."
From his personal account, curling team member Matt Hamilton replied to Alley, "You're entitled to your wrong opinion."
Alley replied with laughing face emojis, showing she at least had a sense of humor about the spat. She wrote, "Ok I'm gonna give it another chance! My son loves watching curling! He doesn't love figure skating, which I do, so we can make each other give 2nd chances today!"
The Olympians were good sports, replying, "Awww @kirstiealley, we knew you'd come around! Allow us or our good friends at @HollywoodCurl to show you and your son the ropes sometime. In the meantime, let us outfit you both with a @usacurl shirt. #TeamKirstie #TeamShuster #TeamUSA #curling #cheers."