Kesha said infamous red carpet incident with Jerry Seinfeld was the ‘saddest moment of her life’

Kesha opened up about an infamous red carpet incident with Jerry Seinfeld, calling it the 'saddest moment of my life'.

The American singer, 38, who rose to fame in 2009 with smash hits 'Tik Tok' and 'Right Round', was embarrassed at a charity event by the Seinfeld star, 71, back in 2017.

During the David Lynch Foundation’s 'A Night of Laughter & Song' at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the pop star decided to approach the billionaire comedian on the red carpet to ask for a hug.

"So I learned transcendental meditation (TM) from David Lynch, the David Lynch Foundation," Kesha said to EW in 2023, providing a bit of a backstory.

"Love meditating, so he was like, 'Could you do an event that's a charity event?' I was in the middle of tour. I was exhausted, but I really love David Lynch and I heard that Jerry Seinfeld was going to be there."

On her love of the successful sitcom, which aired from 1989 to 1998, she explained: "I used to take my computer, when there was the CD, and I'd carry it around the world internationally, the little DVDs.

"When it got bumpy on planes, I'd pop in Seinfeld and I'd be like, 'Everything's okay in the world'."

Jerry Seinfeld met Kesha on the red carpet (WTOP News)

Well, things certainly didn't play out the way she would have wanted.

After requesting a hug from the veteran actor, he awkwardly - yet very politely - declined, responding twice with: “No, thanks.”

Even when Kesha persisted with 'a little one?' - he firmly replied: “Yeah, no thanks.”

"I don't know who that was," Seinfeld admitted.

He didn't know who the singer was (WTOP News)

"I got really excited because he brings me peace and love and all things good in the universe," Kesha explained. "And then he didn't hug me in front of cameras.

"And it was the most depressing, and hilarious, but also so sad, it was like the saddest moment of my life."

Seinfeld addressed the ordeal a few days later and insisted that it was nothing personal, it's just that he doesn't hug strangers.

"I'm 63. I don't know every pop star, I don't know everyone," he told Extra.

"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 have to start somewhere."

Kesha, who has recently released Period, her first album since going independent, even contemplated giving up on hugs forever following the incident.

"I had a moment where I was thinking to myself, 'Maybe I should stop trying to hug everyone and attack them,'" she said.

"And then I was like, f**k that, no," Kesha said. "I love hugging. Hugging is magical, hugging is beautiful. It's a beautiful exchange of wonderful soul energy. 'I accept you.' It's this beautiful connection."