Fox News’ Tomi Lahren is living proof that The Picture Of Dorian Gray is a work of nonfiction, as a soul so bitter and fundamentally out of touch as hers could only have emerged from a time when slavery was still legal. She’s built a career on breathing new life into antiquated phrases like “race card,” and willingly lends her 1,000-mile stare to right-wing organizations best known for literally wearing diapers. One of the frequent targets of her rage, you’ll surely be shocked to learn, is rappers.
Dan Ozzi, a former A.V. Club contributor, has compiled a thorough breakdown of Lahren’s bizarre, uneasy relationships with the hip-hop cognoscenti over at Noisey. In it, you’ll find the likes of JAY-Z, Kendrick Lamar, and Beyoncé, the latter of whom she accused of perpetuating “the great battle of the races” (?) with her 2016 Super Bowl halftime show. Oh, but her relentless attacks on the self-expression of black artists is okay because she once shared a video of her mouthing along with a 21 Savage track.
But it’s Lahren’s feud with D.C. rapper Wale that’s perhaps the most delightful, as it’s had a long-term impact on how people on Twitter engage with Lahren. After calling her “Tammy Lauren” in a song, Lahren clapped back at him for getting her name wrong.
We’ll let Ozzi break it down from here:
Wale’s response was short and dismissive: “Ok Tammy.” It was only two words but probably fucked her up worse than any two words in her life with the possible exception of “black President.” Deliberately misnaming Lahren has now become a time-honored national pastime enjoyed by people young and old of all races and genders. A year later and it’s still impossible to peek into her mentions without finding an endless stream of replies calling her “Tammy,” “Tabitha,” “Tormy,” etc. It’s been so effectively disorienting that Lahren’s own parents might even forget Tammy’s name at this point. Lahren tried clapping back with an “Ok Whale” but by then it was too late and she’d already been swept away by a sea of good-ass online owns.
But wait, the Twitter saga continues! During Tamika’s messy public firing from conservative shithole The Blaze—which, again, is fucking hilarious—she sipped a lil tea about it on Twitter, posting, “I’m gonna take the advice of @Wale and just smile.” And Wale, who pretty much could’ve tweeted literally anything back to this softball setup and come out on top, responded, “Same phone who dis.” Wale: 2. Tamrynn: 0.
Thank you, Wale.