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Kathie Lee Gifford Eats Crow After Her Comments Anger Aretha Franklin

Jul 19, 2012  •  Post A Comment

Kathie Lee Gifford followed up on NBC’s “Today” show Wednesday after comments she made on the show earlier in the week drew an angry response from the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.

Gifford apologized to the singer for questioning her relevance and suggesting she might not make a good judge on "American Idol," reports TVNewser.com.

As we reported yesterday, Gifford said on "Today" that "there are a lot of kids out there [who] actually don’t know who Aretha Franklin is. It’s sad, but they don’t."

Franklin, who appears to be actively campaigning for a judge’s job on "Idol," responded via email, taking issue with Gifford’s comment. Franklin wrote: "[M]y audience and fans span the age of 8 to 90! And are multi-ethnic, and I am very well known to young adults, tweens and teens."

Gifford on Wednesday morning offered an apology, noting, "There is nobody in the world like her. My point was there is a whole generation of kids, some kids don’t know who Barbra Streisand is, who Frank Sinatra is …”

Her co-host Hoda Kotb responded, "She’s still mad at you."

6 Comments

  1. Kathie Lee- please stop talking and go away. To quote Frank Sintra “…you’re days are numbered…”
    I don’t know what tiny, insulated world you live in, but all the parents I know expose their kids to every variety of pop culture: 50’s sci-fi, Louis Armtrong, Neil Armstrong, Laugh-In, etc., etc. While you’re kids are quoting ‘Barney’, my kids quote ‘High Society’ (RIP Celeste Holm) and ‘The Holy Grail’!

  2. That’s impressive, Hi-Fi Hippie! I’ll have to visit your planet someday. Here on earth, “Laugh In” doesn’t resonate with too many tweens.
    Nor does Aretha (Who?) Franklin.

  3. Kathie Lee it’s time to change Frank’s Depends. More people know Aretha Franklin than you or your OLD husband.

  4. Sad to even think that there may be people on this planet who don’t know who Barbra Streisand is — but I totally agree with with KLG. About 15 years ago I was directing a high school musical and reminiscent of Barry Manilow had staged the entire group to move forward on the key change. On the cue, I yelled out “Barry Manilow moment” — they all looked at me as if I were from Mars as these 14,15 & 16 year olds had no idea who Barry Manilow was (is). And — these were bright kids involved in chorus, theatre, etc — so they weren’t living under a rock — it just wasn’t their generation! I’m just guessing that if you go out and ask a few 14 year olds (and these are the kids who watch Idol religiously), they won’t rattle off Aretha’s hits either.

  5. I wish I didn’t know who Barry Manilow is!

  6. ALTHOUGH I’M NOT A BIG FAN OR EVEN A small fan OF KATHIE LEE FOR THAT MATTER I DO HAVE TO AGREE WITH HER !

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