Clay cohosted with Kelly Ripa on LIVE With Regis and Kelly last Friday. Well, he was supposed to be the cohost. In reality, he was mostly a stage fixture until the very end, not that I'm complaining or anything.
This show is not really on my radar normally, but I have seen it a few times, and always when Clay is on of course.
I read the comments on several message forums about the appearance, and comments about today's show as well, during which Kelly basically called Clay hostile, ill-mannered, and disrespectful. Good thing she was comforted by her good friend Howard Stern, him being such a bastion of integrity when it comes to the treatment of women after all.
Her comments seem to stem from the fact that he put his hand over her mouth on the show Friday, after apparently being frustrated that he couldn't get a word in edgewise. She fired off question after vacuous question to Emmitt and Cheryl, from Dancing With the Stars, hardly taking a breath. It was almost as if Clay weren't even there.
I thought it was funny, a joke. She didn't. He apologized, on the air. They moved on.
Story over, right? Of course not! It's show biz folks.
Kelly RIpa has shown a negative bias against Clay since the first time they met and she went on about how much she liked Ruben. That's fine, I like Ruben too. But I wouldn't get all up in his face about how much better I liked Clay. Isn't that kind of... disrespectful? She also said she was "removing" all the Claymates from the audience and bringing her fans in. Such a respectful way to treat a guest, no? No.
Speaking of disrespectful, I admit I am confused. I seem to recall a time when Kelly dressed up as Clay for Halloween. In fact, she showed this on the show Friday. But only part of it. She didn't show the part where she, as a flaming homosexual Clay, kissed Regis, who was in costume as Bo Bice. What a respectful way to portray Clay! Except NOT. And this is how he was welcomed at the very beginning of the show.
But that's not all. On Friday's show, with full knowledge that Clay doesn't like cats, in fact, has a phobia of cats, she still waved a cat photo in his face, on the air, on purpose. Even made a threatening statement about it. But I assumed she was kidding. You know, that she was making a joke. Sort of like when Clay put his hand over her mouth.
I guess humor is often lost on the fanatical.
I am not saying Clay was right in trying to surpress Kelly's interview with Emmitt and Cheryl so as to be able to do the thing he was brought on the show to do, to you know, contribute. But considering he had been insulted by Ripa from the time they first took the stage, I can only imagine how frustrated he must have been.
Kelly Ripa's bias against Clay is well documented, and goes way back. She thought Clay was the person she portrayed that Halloween two years ago. Her lack of knowledge about who Clay really is? That's on her, not him. Her rant this morning made her look petty and small. And most of all, silly.
Kelly Ripa, you lost a fan today.
I'm not saying two wrongs make a right. But I am saying this...
Respect is a two way street. You can't treat people like dirt and then expect them to kiss your ass.
Kelly is supposed to be a professional talk show host. Clay is a singer, who was invited to appear on the show as the cohost. He was then treated disrespectfully himself, from the beginning.
Consider this - the show was LIVE; no taping and editing. He was made fun of with the Halloween video, he had a cat picture waved in his face, he didn't get to interview anyone, and his performance was plagued with poor sound management.
Even with all those factors, he still was able to be funny, to interact with Kelly, even if he wasn't allowed to interact with the guests, and to hopefully have some fun while there.
If you agree with me that Clay did a wonderful job for his very first LIVE cohosting gig, please take a minute and let the Live With Regis & Kelly show know. This is great PR for Clay!
Go to Live With Regis & Kelly, click on "Review this episode," register and tell them how much you enjoyed seeing Clay on the show Friday!
You know, there is no need to bash Kelly for her unprofessional demeanor on the show this morning; in fact, I don't see the need to acknowledge her at all. She really isn't that important in the grand scheme of Clay's life.
What's important is supporting Clay. I respectfully encourage you to do just that.
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11 comments:
Honey I totally agree with everything you said! I had no idea that Kelly was going to go off on the deep end and make a big deal out of everything! She needs to learn how to share the floor and make her guests feel more comfortable. Unless one of my fave celebs is on a certain day, I will NOT be watching anymore episodes of "Regis and Kelly".
Kelly Rippa has hated Clay since DAY 1, every Clay fan knows that. She was rude to him on that show Friday, and I don't know how he kept from choking her. She played that ridiculous video of her mocking him, she humiliated him with the cat picture, she wouldn't let him talk, and he even apologized to her ON THE AIR for trying to shut her up! She is a no class bimbo, and I'm not sure why she is even famous.
Does anyone know?
I wholeheartly agree with what was said here. I'm in awe of the reaction so far and it's far from over I think. Kelly said today "you know i am kinda like 'if you dont have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." She might've wanted to take her own advice there because she just caused a lot of hell for a lot of people, myself included. The more she opens her mouth the better benefit for Clay. So let her rant on and on...
Do you all encourage your children to behave the same way? You're emaking Clay out to be the victim and he's not one at all. He showed absolutely no manners whatsoever. He was the guest co-host and luckily it'll never happen again. I watched it on Friday and it was uncomfortable. Shame on him.
No, but my child is not an "allegedly" professional talk show host or singer, in the public eye, providing "entertainment" for the masses.
Clay was trying to be funny; he had been trying to speak for the entire interview and she was not letting him speak.
Actually, the whole thing is ridiculous. Show biz is a vast barren wasteland of small minded idiots. I don't know how Clay can stand it.
No, Clay is no victim, that's for sure. He's not a doormat either, and I'm glad he refused to be treated as one by the likes of Princess Ripa.
Kelly Ripa acted like a total you-know-what! She had no right to bash Clay the way she did, and she owes him an apology. Kelly, get over yourself! Because of your unprofessional behavior, I will never watch Regis and Kelly again!
Well said!
I believe Kelly was ticked that Clay had as many lines as her because she kept grabbing his lines. When Clay spoke up about it she got pissed!
Hypocrites!
May I please put a link to this blog on mine?
I enjoy your articles.
wru
I know this is a Clay Blog so you're more than a little biased but Kelly did nothing wrong. Clay's behavior was outrageous from the start. He demonstrated that he was completely out of his depth and unprofessional throughout the show. He tried to make jokes at Kelly's expense that simply fell flat. Then to make matters worse he physically intruded on her personal space - imagine for one moment that someone came into your work and did that to you in front of your colleagues let along millions of TV viewers. To have someone else's hand on your face is gross. What an outrage! I know he is having difficulty publicly coming to terms with homosexuality and perhaps that heightened the stress for him, I don't know. For that reason he needs our support as his fans. But that does not excuse such childish behavior. Clay - you need to say sorry - do it for us fans!
I agree that Clay should apologize and he did - twice.
He apologized on the air, and he apologized backstage, according to a poster on the R&K message forum who was there.
The very fact that she is continuing to drag this out speaks to her agenda which was evident from the very beginning - when she played that offensive, degrading video of her portraying Clay as a flaming homosexual, when she thrust the cat picture into his personal space, not to mention his face, and the way she completely disregarded his very presence during the interview portions - which was to humiliate, degrade and insult him.
Her reasons? I have no idea, and I don't care.
She was baiting him. It was totally unprofessional, insensitive and controlling.
She owes him an apology.
Well to the one anonymous poster--you seem to forget that Clay had said he IS NOT gay. Whatever she decides in her mind may be her right, but she should be professional enough on that show to keep it to herself. You don't insult people in the industry, knowing they may very well be on your show. Especially when they have actually already been on your show several times in the past. And if he were to be gay, then it is still totally wrong. So either way, she is wrong and unprofessional by her actions of the last 3 years.
For your comment --- "I know he is having difficulty publicly coming to terms with homosexuality and perhaps that heightened the stress for him, I don't know." Yes, you showed exactly how much you DON'T KNOW. You also showed your total lack of respect for Clay. Again, just in case you didn't get it here in my first paragraph--or the many times he has said it -- he is NOT gay. It's not your right to say or imply he is. Get over yourself. He gets to identify who he is -- NOT YOU. And certainly not Ms Bimbo Ripa who lives with a male stripper (god knows where his hands have been in the past), and not her good buddy Howard Stern, who cheered her up and told her his thoughts of the show. Yeah, right--I'm sure we all know what they are. And of course, he is totally right cause he is such a moral unstanding person and a good judge of character and morals.
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