Kelly Ripa Addresses Kathie Lee Gifford’s Criticism About Her Book

Kelly Ripa is addressing Kathie Lee Gifford’s criticism of her new memoir, Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories. During a new interview on Dear Media’s Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast released Tuesday, the Live With Kelly and Ryan co-host thanked Gifford for publicly stating she wouldn’t read her book due to the stories she told about her tumultuous professional relationship with the pair’s late co-host Regis Philbin.

“I tend to not go into deep dives about things I can’t comment on because I haven’t seen them,” Ripa told host Amanda Hirsch. “And then, I write this entire chapter [which] is about correcting the record in real-time. Do you do it? Should one do it? Theoretically, should a person correct the record in real-time or should they not even comment on it?”

Gifford previously told Fox 5 NY earlier this month that she hadn’t read and wouldn’t read Ripa’s book after seeing headlines concerning Ripa and Philbin’s relationship. “I was very sorry to see the headlines,” said Gifford, who hosted Live with Philbin from 1985-2000. “We see headlines all the time, and you never know what’s true and not true.” She continued, “I don’t get it. I’m not going to read the book. I haven’t read it. I don’t even know if it’s out yet.”

Ripa continued in Tuesday’s interview that she wasn’t concerning herself with criticism from people who have yet to read her book. “If you’re at home hidden behind a computer screen not having read a book, launching criticism, I don’t have time for you,” Ripa said. “I don’t listen to that. I’ve been traveling now promoting this book, and I take away, like, these are people who have read it and have really been uplifted.”

She continued, “They’ve laughed, they’ve cried. They got it. They got the message that there are universal things: work is hard; play is fun; childbirth isn’t for pu-ies. You know? It’s like, these are the universal truths that we all experience. And, so, I am not going to entertain criticism from people who didn’t read the book. Don’t read it. Everybody’s busy.” 

The former soap opera star even thanked Gifford for bringing more attention to her book. “It is really hard to sell a book,” she said. “This is like week three of the book, right? … Suddenly all of these headlines pop up, and there’s all of these headlines on my book … so my ultimate comment is, ‘Thank you.’” She continued, “It’s really hard to get attention on a book that’s been out for a couple of weeks, and now, it’s week two, [the] second week on the New York Times Best Sellers list, it’s like, ‘Thank you.’ Because I think that people who read the book will have a really different take on the book.”