Kathie Lee Gifford, the beloved host of the Today show, has lived much of her life in
the spotlight.
But from dealing with her husband's unexpected death, to a sweatshop scandal that nearly
tanked her career, we're uncovering whether or not life for the star is just as bright
and funny off-camera...
Soap star bomb
A bright-eyed Kathie Lee was dying to work her way into Hollywood in 1976, when the 22-year-old
made her soap opera debut on Days of Our Lives, as Nurse Callahan.
"She won't eat.”
"Well, that's our girl.”
Cringing at the clip when she revisited it in 2015, Kathie Lee said:
"That is the worst acting I have ever seen.”
"Thank you, Days of Our Lives, for putting up with me there."
Sweatshop scandal
On two different occasions, Kathie Lee has garnered terrible press for sweatshop-like
conditions in her clothing line's factories.
According to The New York Times, she was first targeted in 1996 when it was alleged that
13 and 14-year-old kids were making her clothes in Honduras.
She talked about it with David Letterman, saying:
"Here I am taking my kids, trying to teach them to care about children less fortunate…
And their mother's being called a sweatshop queen because she puts kids to work.”
She said at the time, "My first reaction was I don't need this...But they told me that
I had a unique opportunity to make a difference by using what happened to me to stop the horrible
practices of some of these manufacturers."
So, she rededicated her efforts to combat sweatshops around the globe.
But controversy struck once again in 1999.
This time, Kathie Lee was accused of employing thousands of Salvadoran women under terrible
conditions.
She issued a statement, saying, "We will not allow that facility to continue manufacturing
goods bearing my name."
The Regis years
For 15 years, Kathie Lee was Regis Philbin's co-host on Live with Regis & Kathie Lee, the
popular morning show that made them household names.
Kathie Lee made her exit in 2000, but she and Philbin have remained friends.
Philbin told Closer in 2015 that he and Kathie Lee used to go on double dates with their
spouses and hang out together on weekends in Greenwich, Connecticut.
He says, "She's very funny, and she's a lot of fun.
We had a great time."
Taking on the tabloids
Kathie Lee may have a thick skin when it comes to the gossip mill, but she put her foot down
when the tabloids targeted her son, Cody.
In 2000, the National Examiner published a story titled "Kathie Lee Wrecking Cody's Life!
Pushy Mom's Creating a Monster," reporting that Cody had thrown fits and wreaked general
havoc around town.
Kathie Lee accused the tabloid of libel for allegedly portraying her son as, quote, "an
impudent, unruly child who is unable to behave in a socially acceptable manner."
The case was dismissed by a Palm Beach Circuit judge in 2002, and details of the settlement
were kept confidential.
Life with Hoda
Today fans may assume Kathie Lee and co-host Hoda Kotb have always been thick as thieves.
But truth be told, these pals didn't gel right away.
Kathie Lee revealed to E! News in 2017,
"We didn't have the chemistry for the first year."
But the host said the two did have chemistry when they grabbed lunch together.
Kathie Lee tipped off Hoda at the time, saying:
“You know Hoda, if you could be the same person on camera as the girl that I had lunch
with, we could have a good show."
Kotb apparently took that advice to heart.
"You start sharing life and you start falling in love with the person.”
“You become friends, too.”
“Real, genuine friends."
The real deal
Despite more than 50 years in television, and at least two decades on live morning TV,
Kathie Lee doesn't think of herself as a journalist.
She told People in 2016 that she respects journalists too much to take herself seriously,
saying, "What I do with Hoda can not be called journalism, let's be honest...We're just two
people who have no idea what we're going to talk about who just sit there and have fun."
"This is the best show in the world.
I love it!"
"It's a friendly place."
"Friendly!”
Giving back
If you think Kathie Lee sits around the fourth hour of Today drinking wine and then goes
home to drink more wine, you're mistaken.
Gifford is a first-rate philanthropist who founded both the Cody Gifford House and Cassidy's
Place, to help children suffering from a variety of ailments and needs.
She explained the origin of her work to Today back in 2011, saying, "I'll never forget what
really did it for me.
I remember holding my first AIDS baby in my one arm, and my 3-month-old son Cody in my
other arm.
The disparity and the injustice of my son being born healthy into prosperity, and this
other little baby was just born.
That's all that it did.
It didn't take intravenous drugs, it hadn't had unprotected sex, it was just born…That
just really affected me."
Remembering Frank
"Good morning, I'm Frank Gifford with Kathie Lee Johnson."
In August 2015, Kathie Lee's husband of 29 years, Frank Gifford, unexpectedly died at
age 84.
Frank was a former NFL star who played for the New York Giants for 12 years, as well
as an Emmy winning sportscaster.
In the days and months that followed his death, Kathie Lee reflected on her loss in an essay
for the Hollywood Reporter, writing, "I wasn't able to watch one football game this season...I
just couldn't.
Too soon.
Frank loved the NFL.
He said, 'Kathie, every dream I had came true because of the NFL.'"
But the couple's marriage wasn't perfect.
Around the 11th year, he reportedly cheated on her, triggering a dark period in their
union.
Kathie Lee told Closer, they recovered from it, saying, "Sometimes you run out of time
to build [trust] again.
I was grateful we could...I'm so grateful my children were young and didn't know.
By the time they did, they realized how much their parents love each other — and them
— by sticking it out."
She told ET at the time:
"A very dear friend said to me, ‘If you can't forgive your husband, forgive your children's
father.’
Too many families break up over something that could be healed."
Kathie Lee's mother passed away in September of 2017, and the openly spiritual host said
on Today:
"Just like Frank, I believe she saw Jesus and Jesus took her breath away.
And it gives me great comfort."
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