In 2017, Kesha experienced Jerry Seinfeld in his purest form. In a viral video, she saw Seinfeld being interviewed at a charity event, so she excitedly approached him and asked for a hug. While most people might just oblige in that situation, Seinfeld politely refused and did so multiple times as Kesha tried to get him to hug her.
LAST NIGHT @KeshaRose found out @JerrySeinfeld is not a #Hugger — Is it hard to be a non-hugger in 2017? pic.twitter.com/92OoMFCNkd
— Tommy McFLY (@TommyMcFLY) June 6, 2017
It was a hilarious moment, and now Kesha has expertly referenced it and given it new life in these times of social distancing: Today, she shared a looping clip of the video and captioned it, “Now I get it.”
— kesha (@KeshaRose) March 25, 2020
Not long after the moment happened, Kesha discussed what went through her head in the immediate aftermath, saying, “I instantly was like, ‘Oh, f*ck me, I somehow ended up in my very own mini episode of Seinfeld for like five seconds. I should [have known better], I’ve seen every episode a thousand times. […] That’s why I was trying to attack him, yes! That’s why I wanted a hug so hard. Anyways, he’s just not a huggy guy, it’s fine. […] I’ve seen the hugging episode. That was my fault.”
Seinfeld also previously offered his on-brand take on the situation, saying, “I was right in the middle of an interview, it was a little off. When you get to be my age and you’ve done a couple things, you have your own reality, in my reality… I don’t hug a total stranger. I have to meet someone, say hello. I gotta start somewhere… hug isn’t first moment of a human, two humans. I never did that.”
