Jon Hamm Calls Out Hilton, Kardashian as Talentless Do-Nothings

If it weren’t so obvious, Jon Hamm’s recent comments about Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian might actually cause a stir somewhere outside the households of those two reality "stars." In a recent issue of Elle UK, the Mad Men actor, notes, "Whether it's Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian or whoever, stupidity is certainly celebrated. Being a f-cking idiot is a valuable commodity in this culture because you're rewarded significantly."

Predictably, this ruffled some feathers among the "get paid to be famous" crowd. Both Hilton and Kardashian are 31 years old and, if it appears to the casual observer that all they do is work on looking good in public and taking vacations, well, that’s because that’s mostly what they do. Hamm notes that it "doesn’t make any sense" that such people can create successful businesses, but he’s not taking into account the severe and overblown obsession with celebrity in this country.

Said Hilton of her successful fragrance "business" – "I'm involved in my products every step of the way. My fragrances are doing really well at the moment. They've produced more than $1.3 billion in revenue since 2005." While it’s certainly true that her fragrances make money, the "involvement" of which she speaks is probably smelling them before they go into production. Real people who have to run real businesses that are not based on being famous have to actually produce things, but this is a point that is either lost on such people or one that is willfully ignored.

Kardashian’s story might be even funnier. Kardashian’s mom, Kris Jenner, notes, "It's annoying when I hear, 'What do your girls do?' Well, first of all, all of my daughters have jobs. They are fashion stylists and designers; they own a chain of stores. They had the stores before they had the show." With virtually unlimited financial resources and a celebrity name, who couldn’t start a business? The answer, in fact, is – no one. That won’t stop any of the Kardashian girls, or Hilton, from believing they’ve got real businesses that would have succeeded outside the context of the American obsession with celebrity.