Clay Aiken is revisiting his long-running rift with Kelly Ripa, describing the fallout from their tense live television exchange as the most “catastrophic” week of his life.
The incident unfolded in 2006, when Aiken, the former American Idol runner-up who is now 47, appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly and startled viewers by placing his hand over Ripa’s mouth while she was speaking.
Ripa publicly criticized Aiken in the days that followed, and the awkward moment soon escalated into a highly publicized clash between the two television personalities — one that has lingered for nearly 20 years.
Aiken has now reflected on the controversy in a new interview, maintaining that the gesture was meant to be playful and was “incredibly innocent” at the time.
During an appearance on the latest episode of the Hollywood Raw podcast, the singer also said he has not spoken with Ripa, 55, since the episode, even though they have crossed paths at multiple events over the years.
“Maybe I should feel bad that I have not gone up and said something myself, but she hasn’t either,” Aiken said. “No one would remember but me I [am] the one with the scars.”
Explaining what led to the moment, Aiken said he had appeared on the show hoping to prove he could handle the format and potentially host. But, he recalled, he felt he was not being given much opportunity to speak.
“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,” he said.
Clay Aiken has broken his silence on his on-air fallout with Kelly Ripa in 2006
Ripa had been hosting Live with Regis and Kelly when he physically silenced her with his hand
At the time, Aiken had been invited to co-host the talk show while Regis Philbin was absent.
The awkward moment happened when Aiken and Ripa sat down to interview Dancing with the Stars winner Emmitt Smith and professional dancer Cheryl Burke.
Clearly frustrated that he hadn’t been able to get his questions in, Aiken dramatically stopped Ripa from speaking by holding his hand over her lips.
‘That’s a no, no!’ a shocked Ripa said. ‘I don’t know where that hand has been, honey.’
No sooner than he made the move, Aiken realized he crossed the line. ‘Oh, I’m in trouble,’ he said.
Ripa then encouraged him to ask his question.
Days later, Ripa ripped into Aiken on the program and said that she felt there was ‘a lot of hostility’ during the move.
‘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.
Ripa scolded Aiken for covering her mouth and said he had a ‘lack of respect’
‘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.’
Rosie O’Donnell unpacked the media storm on The View days later, where she referred to Ripa as ‘homophobic’ despite Aiken not yet being publicly out as gay at the time.
Ripa then defended herself and called into the show.
‘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.
‘To imply that it’s anything homophobic is outrageous, Rosie, and you know better. You should be more responsible.’
Aiken voiced his frustration over the incident, especially because he had not come out to the public. He came out as gay two years later on the cover of People.
Rosie O’Donnell’s assessment of the situation on The View drew even more attention to the spat
Aiken said he was scarred by his time on the show due to the fallout and talk of his sexuality
‘I was not out at the time,’ he said. ‘I was to Rosie… I was out to people who I knew, but I wasn’t publicly out about it.’
He added that some family members didn’t even know he was gay at the time.
‘I was not out to my grandparents and the people in my family. 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.
‘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.
‘[It was] probably the most catastrophic week of my life, to be honest. I was caving in on myself, it was a lot.’
In the wake of the blowup, Aiken sent Ripa flowers and she allegedly apologized for the situation getting out of hand.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Ripa and O’Donnell for comment.
