Details are surfacing about the "Live" debacle involving beloved TV personality Kelly Ripa and the surprising news that her Live co-host Michael Strahan is jumping ship to Good Morning America. Ripa called in sick yesterday, and one source explained, "Kelly didn’t want to show up to work and mouth off and say something she would have regretted. She is upset and didn’t want to take it out on her own staff."
Another source told CNN, "She is beyond angry. Beyond."
On Tuesday morning, ABC announced that Super Bowl champion Strahan would be moving to GMA full-time, four years after joining Live in a highly-publicized co-host search (which included Pat Kiernan), and two years after joining GMA as a twice-a-week contributor. ABC News president James Goldston praised Strahan for being a "tireless and versatile broadcaster with an incredible ability to connect with people," adding that "he will help us drive forward into a very exciting future." TMZ reports that apparently Disney (which owns ABC) CEO Bob Iger told Strahan not to tell Ripa about the plans. The entire transition has been terribly executed on Disney's behalf.
Ripa apparently only found out about Strahan's decision moments before the public announcement, after Live aired on Tuesday, and had previous concerns about this happening. From the NY Times:
He began as an on-air correspondent for “Good Morning America” two years ago, a decision that Ms. Ripa expressed concerns about at the time, according to the person. Ms. Ripa was worried it would distract him from “Live” but was reassured it would only be a temporary position.
Mr. Strahan continued to appear on the morning show, and ABC executives recently decided that bringing him into the “Good Morning America” lineup could help stem the ratings drop.
After “Live” ended on Tuesday morning, Ms. Ripa was called to a meeting along with the show’s longtime producer, Michael Gelman, and the WABC general manager, Dave Davis (the show is produced by WABC, and it is distributed by ABC and Disney’s syndication group). She did not know the purpose of the meeting.
After a 20-minute wait, Mr. Strahan entered the room and broke the news that he was leaving. It wasn’t long before tensions flared.
“Didn’t I tell you this was going to happen?” Ms. Ripa said to Mr. Davis at the meeting, according to the person. “I told you two years ago this was going to happen.”
ABC said that Ripa would be out through Tuesday; Friday and Monday were pre-scheduled absences to celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary. A source told the Post, "She didn’t show up for work and isn’t taking anyone’s calls."
TMZ claims, "We're told Kelly and Michael don't get along. Our sources say she feels he's disrespectful to her and is full of himself. Apparently Michael often rolls with an entourage and it doesn't sit well with her." At the end of yesterday's Ripa-less show, Strahan talked about the switch (which will happen in September) and added, "Kelly, I thank you, I love you."
There's also reportedly tension with the GMA team: The Daily Beast reports, "While Strahan is said to be very well liked by the GMA staff and talent—and co-hosts Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos, and news reader Amy Robach posted tweets warmly welcoming him as a fulltime colleague after Tuesday’s announcement—they are reportedly chafing at the notion that Strahan is being publicly positioned as GMA’s savior." There's speculation that by adding Strahan, ABC News wants to create a third hour of GMA to go head to head with the Today show; currently Live airs from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Ripa—who appeared with Malcolm Gladwell's "David And Goliath"—is reportedly vacationing with family in Turks and Caicos, where hopefully she's channeling her Broad City alter-ego:
