KATHIE LEE RIPS RIPA FOR DISSING REGIS!
FEISTY Kathie Lee Gifford is fighting mad with Kelly Ripa after the whiny Live host trashed beloved television icon Regis Philbin, sources say.
“How dare Kelly?” blasts a friend of Kathie Lee. “Regis changed her life when he handpicked her to co-host Live with him. Kelly was a soap opera actress who Regis made rich and famous, and this is the thanks he gets. “Kathie Lee is steaming. Unlike Kelly, she is loyal to people who changed her life.”
In an interview plugging her new book, Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories, Kelly, 52, complained about how hard it was to work with Regis and how he didn’t want to hang out with her off the set.
Kelly also says their relationship was “forced” and moans that she was “vilified.”
“Kelly is a coward coming after a man who’s dead,” huffs another insider.
“Kelly would never have dared talk about Regis when he was alive. Now she’s attacking him just to sell a book. It’s a disgrace!” In contrast, Kelly’s Live predecessor Kathie Lee,
69, and Regis remained close right up to his death at age 88 in 2020. In fact, Regis was at her Connecticut home a few weeks before he passed. “Kathie Lee has never liked the way Kelly treated Regis,” says the friend. “The way Kelly treated him, you wouldn’t treat a dog. But that was nothing compared to what she’s doing now.”
“Regis can’t fight back, but Kathie Lee can.”