Kelly Ripa may not be speaking to Michael Strahan before live shows any longer.
But the bubbly TV personality does open up in the latest issue of People.
Just as Ripa did when she made her return to the program a few weeks ago, the host makes it very clear in this cover story that she doesn’t believe ABC treated her with respect upon announcing that Strahan would be leaving Live! for Good Morning America.
As the story goes, Ripa learned of this big career move – which has significant impact on her career, as well – basically at the same time as the American public.
She was not cool with that. At all.
“There’s a part of me that can say, ‘Okay, I understand. This may have been an oversight,"” Ripa tells People of getting the information so late.
“And again, after 26 years, at this point we are like a family.
“And sometimes when you are so comfortable with somebody, you may not give them the same consideration as somebody you’re not as comfortable with – a certain formality falls away.”
It’s sort of like the Jerry Seinfeld bit where you actually spend less time waiting somewhere for a friend to meet you than you would for a stranger.
At least to us it’s sort of like that.
Upon being told by executives that Strahan was leaving, Ripa said she needed the following day off – and then she jetted to the tropics for a pre-planned vacation.
As you can see in the clip below, Ripa then explained to viewers that the tiff boiled down to “communication, consideration and, most importantly, respect in the workplace.”
“I think that all people are deserving of fair treatment in the work place. People deserve respect,” Ripa reiterates here to the magazine. “People should be treated equally and with dignity.”
Ripa adds:
“I think that requires a certain amount of empathy on a level. When you’re dealing with big business, it’s easy to forget that you’re dealing with people and that people have feelings.
“It’s easy to just look at it like a business unit, a unit, a unit.”
The chemistry between Ripa and Strahan clearly seems off these days, although Ripa is quick to say that “I’m not dealing with monsters” in this awkward case.
“I don’t think of anybody as a monster or out to get me.”
So that’s… something we guess.
Is she “excited” for Strahan to start his new GMA job? Yes. She believes it is a “perfect match” of show and co-host.
And, at the end of the day, Ripa and the many people who work at Live! have been assured that the show isn’t going anywhere.
“People make mistakes, and we’re all human,” she concludes. “They’re human and I’m human. We all have these moments, and it’s about how you move forward and how you begin again.”
