What Prince Really Thought Of The Kardashians

Let's get one thing straight: Prince did not need to be "keeping up" with anyone, but in May 2016, actress Zooey Deschanel told late-night host Conan O'Brien that the Purple One was not particularly fond of the Kardashians. This intriguing morsel of gossip begs a closer look. What did the late, great music and style icon truly think of the family that is famous for being famous? We've got the whole story.

When one of the most beloved musicians in the world boots you off his stage, it's time for a reality check. In 2011, Prince reportedly invited Kim Kardashian on stage to dance during a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, but then he kicked her off when he didn't like what he saw.

"Kardashian apparently didn't realize that when Prince invites you on stage to dance, you're supposed to lose your mind and f**cking dance," reported The Huffington Post. "But instead, Kardashian got up on stage, clapped and sort of shook her head 'no' as Prince danced at her." With a simple "get off the stage," Prince kept his cool and dismissed the wet blanket.

Kim Kardashian defended herself on an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians in 2011. In the show, the embarrassed reality star is shown talking to radio king Ryan Seacrest. "To my defense, like, didn't [Prince] watch Dancing with the Stars? Like, I'm not a good dancer." (We have a hard time imagining Prince tuning in, but hey, what do we know?) In her show, Kim fears the incident is "going to haunt me forever." She may be right about that one.

She was still explaining herself in 2016 when she tweeted that even reality queens get stage fright. "I was so starstruck I froze!" she said. A Kardashian immobilized by the limelight? That is some serious humanity we haven't seen before.

Like we said, Zooey Deschanel dropped a giant truth bomb on Late Night with Conan O'Brien when she shared Prince's alleged distaste for the Kardashians, but how did she know? In 2014, Prince appeared on his very own dedicated episode of Deschanel's sitcom, New Girl. The episode supposedly came about after Deschanel received an email from Prince's manager saying he loved the show and wanted to guest star on an episode. 

Prince said "he is a big fan of Nick and Jess's relationship, and he wants to make them stronger as a couple, or something like that, which is awesome," actor Jake Johnson told Vanity Fair. The fact that Prince even watches our show is unbelievable." In case we haven't stressed just how much sway Prince held in the entertainment industry, the artist could snap his fingers and suddenly appear on his favorite TV show and then forbid others from doing so. Here's how it went down...

For the special Prince episode, New Girl creators scripted a giant party at the musician's "house" for the cast to attend. To round out the party, producers wrangled some top-notch celebrities, including Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner. Therein lies the rub. After the cast had filmed most of the episode (including the Kardashian spot), Prince came on set to film his scenes. With his entourage in tow, he immediately began calling the shots. His people asked for the scripts and, according to Deschanel, one member of Prince's entourage asked, "Who are the celebrities? I hope it's not a Kardashian."

Deschanel said a production assistant swiftly hustled the Kardashians off the set before Prince could see them and literally burned the scripts and call sheets in a giant bonfire to eliminate all evidence that the Kardashians had ever been in the episode. Prince reportedly said he didn't want the Kardashians at his fictional party because they would never be at one of his real parties. Harsh.

Insiders have said Prince was confounded by the Kardashians' fame and fortune. After booting Kim Kardashian off stage during his concert, Prince allegedly said, "She is a nice enough girl but she ain't got no talent. She can't dance, she can't sing, she can't do anything."

Harsh words, yet the Kardashians seem unruffled. In fact, Kim raved about the late singer on social media after his death in April 2016, saying she will "always remember" her brief onstage encounter with "one of my favorite artists!" 

At the end of the day, it seems both Prince and the Kardashians understood that we're all just trying to get through this thing called life.