Kathie Lee Gifford and Howard Stern’s feud first began in 1995, but came to an end when the shock jock called the former Today host asking for her forgiveness.
Kathie Lee Gifford is stern in her belief that everyone deserves forgiveness.
In fact, the former daytime TV host shared how her decades-long feud with Howard Stern came to an end, explaining that it was actually the radio show host who reached out asking for forgiveness after they met in 2012.
“He left a voicemail,” she explained in an interview with Fox News published May 28, “I can’t even use the language that he used, it was a lot of F-words, but he was basically saying, ‘I can’t believe how nice you were to me. I’ve been so rude to you and you were so nice. I just need to apologize to you.'”
Kathie Lee was surprised by the move, and recalled telling her family, “Well, pigs have now officially flown.”
The duo’s feud first started in 1995 when Kathie Lee was asked to sing the national anthem at Super Bowl XXIX. But as she sang, Kathie Lee could hearing booing in the audience, and later found out Howard had asked his fans to boo her when she took the stage.
And while Kathie Lee, now 70, didn’t pay attention to his show over the years, she said Howard, also 70, continued to speak ill of her and her family despite never having met the former Today host.
Still, that didn’t stop her from offering an olive branch when the shock jock stopped by Today in 2012. And although Kathie Lee said everyone in the studio tried to keep them apart, she made sure to pay him a visit.
“The Lord said, ‘Kathie, go down and say hello to him,'” she told Fox News. “And I said, “‘OK. OK Lord.'”
She made her way to his dressing room and wished him luck as the new judge of America’s Got Talent, a move that surprised Howard so much, he called Kathie Lee later that day and left her that apologetic voicemail.
And when the duo finally connected later on the phone—much to her family’s shock—they ended their feud once and for all.
“I said, ‘Howard, I’m really happy for you that you are asking for forgiveness, because anytime we’ve hurt somebody in life, it’s important to ask for forgiveness,'” she said. “‘But I just want you to know that I forgave you 30 years ago.'”
As she recalled, “He goes, ‘What?’ I said, ‘I forgave you 30 years ago, and I’ve been praying for you every day since. And it’s the truth. And he goes, ‘Oh my God.'”
Howard and Kathie Lee have maintained a cordial relationship since then, which Kathie Lee explaining they’ve run into each other at the Sirius studio and everything has been “fine.”
As she joked, “I can get along with a rock.”
E! News has reached out to Howard for comment but has not heard back.
But Kathie Lee and Howard are far from the only Hollywood duo that has had beef. Keep reading for more rumored squabbles.
(E! and Today are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
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