Kelly Ripa isn’t too bothered by Kathie Lee Gifford’s latest comments about her new book.
Ripa says only this: Thank you. This comes in response to Gifford’s remarks that she won’t read the much-discussed Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories: A book which discusses Ripa’s barely normal relationship with the former Live With Regis and Kelly co-host, Regis Philbin.
“I didn’t see the interview, so I tend to, like, not go into deep dives about things I can’t comment on because I haven’t seen them,” Ripa said in an appearance in Not Skinny But Not Fat episode on Tuesday.
Citing the chapters that provide insight into her relationship with Philbin, she continued: “I knew writing a book was going to open me up to all sorts of criticisms, right? But people who read the book have a very different take on those chapters because they read the book.”
Saying that she’s “a big free-speech person,” Ripa elaborated that she believes Gifford has a right to speak out. As a matter of fact, Gifford also hosted Live alongside Philbin between 1985 and 2000.
“You don’t have to read every book,” she stated. “Nobody has read every book on earth. The comments I’ve gotten about those chapters have been overwhelmingly positive. And the people who read the book took away a lot of positivity from it.”
Ripa later said: “It is ironic that it is that chapter where I talked about ‘What do I do in these situations? Do I advance a media narrative with clickbait and all of that stuff? Or do I just drop it?’”
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Express Gratitude for Traction
But above all, the TV host is filled with gratitude for all the traction her memoir has garnered.
“It’s really hard to sell a book, right? And this is, like, week three of the book,” Ripa stated.
“I mean, honestly, I’m not going to lie. I was not reading any headlines anywhere. And suddenly, all of these headlines pop up. And there’s all of this attention in my book. So, I am a person that tends to take a negative and turn it into a positive. And so, my ultimate comment is: ‘Thank you.’”
Ripa calls the late Philbin chapter “the hardest” part to write. From 2001 until 2011, when she appeared in Live with Philbin, her time was like a roller coaster ride. In an interview with PEOPLE last month, she admitted that she has “good and bad days.”
“I don’t want to feel like I’m slamming anyone or that I’m being disrespectful,” Ripa stated. “But I also want people to know it was not a cakewalk.”
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It took years to earn, Says Ripa
She also revealed how it took some time to gain the things typically just handed out to men.
She said: “It took years to earn my place there and earn things that are routinely given to men I worked with. Including an office and a place to put my computer.”
Ripa recalled a specific encounter with Philbin that stung her heart. The cohost greeted her and showrunner Michael Gelman on her first day, saying, “Uh-oh, Gelman, it’s got an entourage.”
In recent times, Gifford replied to the anecdote on Good Day New York.
“I was really sorry to see the headlines,” she stated. “What’s the point?”
She even said she had no intention whatsoever of reading Ripa’s memoir.
Gifford added: “I just know what Regis was to me. He was, for 15 years, the best partner a person could ever, ever have professionally. But he was my friend. We were dear friends. And after I left the show, for the next 20 years, we became better friends, dearer friends.”
Live Wire: Long-Winged Short Stories is available in bookstores now.
Photo: My Med Tale
