Michael Strahan Talks Feud With Former Co-Star Kelly Ripa
By TheBlast Staff on January 28, 2020 at 11:34 AM EST
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Michael Strahan has always been portrayed as the lovable goofball that is relaxed and looking to have fun. This is basically part of a persona that he created around himself. Kind of hard to do for a guy who made a living off of driving quarterbacks to the ground.
These days though, he is a seasoned TV veteran that has hosted morning talk shows on the ABC network for quite a few years as well as, multiple appearances as a host on the network's football broadcasts. After 4 years of his exit from Live! with Kelly and Michael, he is finally talking.
In a recent interview, the former football star went all out revealing details of the split that had been kept quiet up until this point. One of the main points in the interview was Michael confessing that he was not ok with the fact that he was being treated as a sidekick to Kelly Rippa, instead of being considered an equal.
He mentioned that he was expecting to come into a team environment. Yet, when it came down to it, it seems Ripa was more of a solo act for his taste.
What makes this whole interview seem a little off place was the fact that he claims network executives were the ones that orchestrated the move. At the end of the day, it was not exactly his choice to leave Live! and go to Good Morning America.
To put things in the proper context, both shows air on the same network. It was not like he took an offer to work for another network. By all accounts, this was a premeditated move.
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If this was all an inside job was is there an issue? It seems that Strahan was not pleased with how his exit from the show was portrayed. He claims that "the people" that in his view mishandled the situation gave him an apology after what had happened. It is not clear if those people where network executives, or Kelly Ripa herself.
For Strahan, the apologies were too little too late claiming "A lot of the damage had already been done."
One of the things that seem off is the timing of this entire public dispute. It has been years since this happened and both parties that were allegedly involved still work at the same network. There is no indication that Strahan is going to leave the network. Since he is the main staple of a number of shows on the network. Then again he did pay a visit to Jimmy Fallon recently on NBC.
As far as Ripa goes Strahan claims, "I don't hate her. I do respect her for what she can do at her job. I cannot say enough about how good she is at her job."
