In the good old days, vicious mudslinging between the stars happened face to face or through word of mouth. But it's 2015, and we talk more via smartphones and social media than we do in person. Reaching out to someone you only sorta know is easier than ever — as is picking a fight with pretty much anybody. Twitter in particular has become the ultimate public forum where quarreling celebrities go to hash(tag) it out — while the whole world watches, in real time. These wars-of-words become so ridiculously escalated that, despite our higher selves reminding us not to delight in other people's misery, they become snackable, reality-show style entertainment for the millions of tweeters looking on. We see it all on Twitter: 140-character studies in passive aggression, snarky snipes, thinly veiled jabs, epic rants, cryptic quotes, ambiguous retweets that may or may not be an endorsement of said tweet.
Some of this year's most notable Twitter feuds were born online, sparked by a single tweet alone. Others carried over from a conflict that began IRL and, naturally, got blown absurdly out of proportion. A few of the MVPs this year? Amber Rose, Nicki Minaj, Zayn Malik, and the Kardashians all deserve a shot at the title. But see what you think. Here are the top 10 Twitter tiffs of 2015.
Louis Tomlinson Vs. Zayn Malik
First, One Direction broke all of our hearts when it lost founding member Zayn Malik. Then, the boy band blowout of 2015 continued on Twitter, dispelling hopeful fans' notions that the singer left on rosy terms. It began when Malik shared a photo from Naughty Boy Music that looked very much like it had gone through a standard Mac filter. (The horror!) Ex 1D bandmate Tomlinson made fun of the photo and — in a completely logical next move — accused Naughty Boy of piggybacking on Malik. Malik expertly shut him down: "remember when you had a life and stopped making bitchy comments about mine ?" Ooooh! Cue "Bad Blood."
Winner: Malik. Why Tomlinson decided to make this a thing, we will never know — it just made him look immature.
Amber Rose Vs. The Kardashians
It all started back in February with an Amber Rose interview in which she said Tyga should be “ashamed of himself” for reportedly dating Kylie Jenner, whom she called a child. Khloé came to her little sister’s defense in a series of tweets, telling Rose, “Please stop talking about us in interviews.” She went a step further and told Rose to stop worrying about her sister while quoting Rose on her own stripper past. Rose responded by bashing the whole clan in a vicious rant, leaving no stone unturned. She called Kim a whore; posted a nasty meme; branded the family “plastic ass hoes;” and even brought up old rumors that Khloé is O.J. Simpson’s daughter. Damn. Exhausted yet?
Winner: Despite Khloé's uncalled-for stripper shaming, the reality fam wins. They were neck and neck until Rose started spewing venom and generally being a despicable person.
Amber Rose Vs. The Kardashians, Part II
Oh wait, but there’s more... A few days later, Kanye relit the fuse by saying somepretty nasty things about his ex in an interview — like that he needed 30 showers a day after dating Rose because she made him feel so dirty. Instead of picking a fight with Kanye, though, Rose went after Kim in yet another tirade against the family. “Wait 30 showers? But Kim let RayJ nut on her...” she tweeted, also calling them“The Kartrashians.”
Winner: Kardashians. It wasn’t cool of Khloé to try to make Rose feel bad about her past, but Rose took it to a new level of trash.
Taylor Swift Vs. Nicki Minaj
After the MTV VMA nominations were announced in July, Nicki Minaj vented her frustration that her video for “Anaconda” was not nominated for video of the year — saying that only videos that "celebrate women with very slim bodies" get the nod. Her tweets were pretty universally assumed to be about one certain skinny white artist who did snag a nomination: Taylor Swift.
The “Wildest Dreams” singer responded saying she’s “done nothing but love and support” Nicki — who then insisted she wasn’t even talking about Swift, but the industry as a whole. She accused the “white media” of twisting her words — and Swift of being semi-illiterate. “U must not be reading my tweets. Didn't say a word about u. I love u just as much,” she said.
Two days later, Taylor issued a formal apology. “I missed the point." Thankfully, Nicki accepted the peace offering, because the whole world was upset by this point. Most notably, Miley Cyrus weighed in an interview with The New York Times— leading to the now-infamous “What’s good, Miley?” spat on-stage at the VMAs.
Winner: Sorry Tay-Tay. Minaj was making a larger statement about the industry — not launching a personal attack on the 1989 singer. “Black women influence pop culture so much but are rarely rewarded for it,” she explained to a fan. But the ladies both win for making up and taking the VMA stage by storm together.
Chrissy Teigen Vs. The World
Why couldn’t people get off Teigen’s back this year? Yes, she’s a drop-dead gorgeous supermodel. Yes, she’s married to one of the most romantic musicians in the world. Yes, now she is having said man’s child. And she’s hilarious, to boot. But none of that explains why Twitter and Instagram collectively decided to harp on the 30-year-old’s every move in 2015, especially after she started documenting her pregnancy on social media. “You’re not really pregnant.” “Your spaghetti portion is offensively small.” “You’re craving the wrong foods.” “Your bump is too big for one baby.” Friends like Kim Kardashian and Brooklyn Decker came to her defense.
Winner: Teigen, obviously. She took it like a champ, with the proper mix of pissed-off, biting humor, and irreverence. But mostly pissed-off. (P.S. Her latest Twitter-sparring partner? The ever-ingratiating Donald Trump. Go Chrissy!)
Giuliana Rancic Vs. Kelly Osbourne
The former Fashion Police co-hosts started butting heads after Rancic’s insulting comments about Zendaya’s red carpet dreadlocks. Zendaya said her piece on Instagram and left it at that; Rancic issued her apology everywhere from E! to Twitter (“I was referring to a bohemian chic look”). Co-host Kelly Osbourne took to Twitter immediately to clear her name and announced she was leaving the show two days later.
Fast-forward to April, when Rancic defended herself on the Today show by blaming bad editing. Osbourne wasn’t having it. The same day the show aired, she tweeted, “Liars ALWAYS get caught!” — a crystal-clear jab at her former co-host. A couple of days later, Rancic addressed the tweet on Extra: “[T]here’s no way that can be about me because I’m telling the truth."
Winner: Rancic. Not because she was right (because she wasn't!), but because Kelly's passive-aggressive smear campaign was tired and pointless. By all accounts, they’re still not on speaking terms.
Rebel Wilson Vs. The Kardashian-Jenners
So, this may technically be a Twitter rant for reasons we’ll get into. It started when the Pitch Perfect actress took direct aim at the clan during an interview with an Australian radio station. Wilson said she refused to co-present an award with Kendall and Kylie at the VMAs because they have no talent. She also contended that Kim is only famous because of her sex tape, and said that the family is “totally against what I stand for.”
The Kardashians’ response? Silence. The fam surprised everyone by staying above the fray. Wilson took to social media to continue the feud by her lonesome with some mixed messages, accusing the reality stars of starting a “smear campaign” in the wake of the backlash against her — and then claiming she sent them flowers only minutes later. And she said she’d be happy to “debate the Kardashians anytime.” With herself, it sounds like.
Winner: The Kardashians. (Three for three!) Wilson picked a fight for no reason. Also, Oprah said so.
Drake Vs. Meek Mill
Meek Mill, apparently sick of being compared to Drake, took the first swing: "Stop comparing drake to me too.... He don't write his own raps! That's why he ain't tweet my album because we found out!" And just like that, the beef of 2015 was born. Everybody got pissed (mostly at Mill), and the entire world reacted to the ghostwriting accusations. No, everybody. Producers got dragged into it. Suspicious tracks were leaked. Approximately 7,000 other rappers chose a side. Drake fans blew up Twitter. Lupe Fiasco wrote an Instagram thesis about it. Drake put out two dis tracks. Meek followed up with his own, and everybody dissed it. And the internet did its part by supplying us all with a lifetime supply of hilarious memes.
Winner: Unequivocally, undoubtedly, 100% Drizzy. He channeled his anger into art, not 140-character comebacks — and now his second dis track, “Back to Back,” is up to win a Grammy. How’s that for vengeance? And to think, it all started with a single tweet.
Calvin Harris Vs. Zayn Malik
How the music industry should structure its revenue model for artists has been up for debate for some time. Taylor Swift weighed in with an open letter to Apple arguing that artists should be paid for streaming, even through free music services like Spotify. Ex-One Direction member Zayn Malik unofficially opposed her position when he retweeted a post calling Taylor Swift selfish in comparison to Miley Cyrus, who supports free streaming. Uh-uh. Calvin Harris stuck up for his girlfriend in a reply to Malik (“fuck the 99% of musicians who depend on these services to survive right?”) and told him to “stay out of things you don’t understand.”
Malik shot back at Harris for misunderstanding him. “i [sic] suggest you calm your knickers before them dentures fall out” he wrote. Age-shaming a 31-year-old? Really, dude? Just for good measure, Malik, 22, followed up with this gem: “Oh and I write my own shit too dickhead.”
Winner: Harris. His first tweet was fiery, but Malik took it way too far. Plus, he replied to that last dig with class, wishing Zayn luck and complimenting his “great voice.”
Amy Schumer Vs. The Kardashians
Schumer, who’s never been one to tip-toe around her punch line’s feelings, made a joke about the family’s purported penchant for, er, creative physical editing in her opening monologue on Saturday Night Live. She called the Kardashians“a whole family of women who take the faces they were born with as a light suggestion.” Khloé was first to fire back. “No need 2 tear down others just 2 make urself feel bigger,” she wrote.
Winner: Sorry to break your winning streak, Kardashians, but Amy wins. She’s a comedian, and while her joke certainly wasn’t complimentary, it was indeed a joke — and it’s nothing that hasn’t been said before. Amy also sent them flowers and insisted she had “[n]othing but love for that family.”
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