Clay Aiken Opens Up About Fallout From Kelly Ripa Face-Grab on Live TV

Clay Aiken is revisiting the on-air moment with Kelly Ripa that turned into one of the most talked-about daytime TV controversies of the 2000s. The former American Idol runner-up, now 47, said the fallout from the incident became the most “catastrophic” week of his life. The clash dates back to 2006, when Aiken appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly as a guest co-host while Regis Philbin was away. During the broadcast, he placed his hand over Ripa’s mouth in an attempt to stop her from talking — a move he now says was meant to be “incredibly innocent,” but quickly spiraled into a public feud that still has not been resolved nearly two decades later.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Hollywood Raw podcast, Aiken said he has not spoken to Ripa, 55, since the incident, even though they have crossed paths at events over the years. “Maybe I should feel bad that I have not gone up and said something myself, but she hasn’t either,” he said. “No one would remember but me I [am] the one with the scars.” Aiken explained that he had been eager to prove he could carry the show as a co-host, but felt he was struggling to get a word in. “[I was] on the show because I wanted to show them I could handle this myself,” he said. “[I wanted to show them] I could host something and I wasn’t getting to talk. There were cue cards. They had my name on them. So, I tried to be funny, and I did what I did, which was incredibly innocent. And then it got a little cold in the room.”

The uncomfortable exchange happened during an interview with Dancing with the Stars champion Emmitt Smith and professional dancer Cheryl Burke. Apparently frustrated that Ripa was steering the conversation, Aiken reached over and covered her mouth with his hand. Ripa immediately pushed back, telling him, “That’s a no, no!” before adding, “I don’t know where that hand has been, honey.” Aiken appeared to recognize in the moment that the joke had not landed as intended, saying, “Oh, I’m in trouble.” Ripa then prompted him to go ahead and ask his question, but the tension did not end there.

Days later, Ripa addressed the incident on the show and said she felt “a lot of hostility” in Aiken’s gesture. “There was a lack of respect, and when you’re a certain person, you’re in the public eye, you have to be respectful of other people,” she said at the time. “I don’t think that he was respectful in any way. If that upsets his fans, I’m sorry to hear that, but you don’t put your hands over somebody’s face and mouth when they’re conducting an interview, even if it’s for a laugh. And that’s all I’m gonna say.” The controversy widened after Rosie O’Donnell discussed the matter on The View and described Ripa’s comment as “homophobic,” even though Aiken had not yet publicly come out as gay.

Ripa called into The View to defend herself, insisting her remark was about hygiene rather than Aiken’s sexuality. “I have three kids,” she said. “He’s shaking hands with everybody in the audience. I mean, it’s cold and flu season. That’s what I meant.” She added, “To imply that it’s anything homophobic is outrageous, Rosie, and you know better. You should be more responsible.” Aiken said the public debate was especially painful because, at that point, he was not openly gay. He later came out publicly in 2008 on the cover of People magazine.

“I was not out at the time,” Aiken said on the podcast. “I was to Rosie… I was out to people who I knew, but I wasn’t publicly out about it.” He said some members of his own family, including his grandparents, did not know he was gay then. “I was not out to my grandparents and the people in my family,” he continued. “And not only does Rosie call it a homophobic remark — which I think she accidentally said, and then she tried to walk it back a little bit — but then Kelly calls in live to The View that day and they get in an argument over it.”

Aiken said the situation left him feeling exposed and overwhelmed. “Not only did [O’Donnell] out me, but they had a big argument about whether I was gay and who talked about me being gay,” he said. “[It was] probably the most catastrophic week of my life, to be honest. I was caving in on myself, it was a lot.” After the backlash, Aiken said he sent Ripa flowers, and she allegedly apologized for the controversy escalating. The Daily Mail has reached out to Ripa and O’Donnell for comment.