US TV hosts Sean Hannity, Jimmy Kimmel in vicious war of words

  • 08/04/2018
Jimmy Kimmel and Sean Hannity are locked in a war of words.
Jimmy Kimmel and Sean Hannity are locked in a war of words. Photo credit: Jimmy Kimmel Live!/Fox News

Two giants of American television are locked in a brutal battle across TV and the internet.

Fox News host Sean Hannity and late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel have been trading insults for the last week, after the latter mocked Melania Trump.

In an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! that aired on Monday (local time), the comic mimicked the US First Lady's Slovenian accent after playing a video of her reading to children.

Hannity was quick to take offence, calling Kimmel an "ass clown" and a "despicable disgrace" on his own show.

Kimmel fired back in a monologue on Thursday, calling Hannity "the whole ass circus" and reminding him that he supported alleged paedophile Roy Moore in his bid for the Alabama Senate seat.

On Friday, Hannity called Kimmel a "sick twisted creepy perverted weirdo," and vowed to keep attacking him until he apologised to Mrs Trump. He then dug up old footage of Kimmel's appearances on 1990s TV comedy The Man Show, including a clip in which he asked women to touch his crotch and one where he appeared in blackface.

He called Kimmel 'Harvey Weinstein Jr' and started using the hashtag #pervertkimmel in a series of tweets.

Kimmel took no time in retaliating, ridiculing Hannity for having a "crush" on him and suggesting a sexual relationship between the TV host and US President Donald Trump.

In response to Hannity's accusations of sexual harassment, he asked him if he'd be comfortable with his own daughter being "grabbed by the pussy" - a reference to President Trump's comments about women that emerged just before the 2016 election.

The two hosts also made jibes about each other's TV ratings, with Hannity calling Kimmel "a poor man's [Stephen] Colbert" and Kimmel calling Hannity "a poor woman's Rachel Maddow".

Newshub.