Entertainment
Clay Aiken says Kelly Ripa feud sparked ‘most catastrophic week’ of his life

Clay Aiken spoke out about the moment he contentiously placed his hand over Kelly Ripa’s mouth more than two decades after their intense on-air clash on “Live with Regis and Kelly” in 2006.
The “American Idol” alum, 47, recalled stepping in as a co-host on the daytime show and attempting to stop Ripa from talking so he could ask their guests questions.
When asked if they had spoken since, he responded on Wednesday’s podcast episode of “Hollywood Raw,” “No. I didn’t have the problem.”
Aiken, who has been active in the New York City Broadway scene and society, explained he’s seen Ripa, 55, at some events.
“Maybe I should feel bad that I have not gone up and said something myself, but she hasn’t either,” he said. “We’re talking about something that happened — 20 years ago — which became this huge blowup.”
“That was the most catastrophic week of my life,” the musician added. “No one would remember but me because I was the one with the scars.”
“I’m on the show because I wanted to show them I could handle this myself; I could host something and I wasn’t getting to talk,” he said.
“Like, 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.”
Aiken admitted that he felt bad and was “worried” that he had upset Ripa after seeing the audience “frozen.”
“Is that a no-no?” Aiken asked Ripa at the time, to which she responded, “Oh, that’s a no, no, no. Don’t know where that hand’s been, honey.”
The TV personality shared on the podcast that he didn’t remember how he and Ripa parted ways, but it wasn’t until the following week, when the latter’s co-host, Regis Philbin, had returned, that the situation escalated.
At the time, Philbin, who died in 2020, and Ripa discussed Aiken’s “hostility.”
“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,” Ripa told her co-host.
“And 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.”
Then the following day, Rosie O’Donnell addressed the incident on “The View” and referred to Ripa as “homophobic” despite Aiken not having been out yet.
Ripa responded to the actress by calling into the talk show to defend herself, stating, “I have three kids. 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,” the TV personality told O’Donnell.
Recalling the “blow up,” Aiken said, “I was not out at the time. I was to Rosie … I was out to people who I knew, but I wasn’t publicly out about it.”
“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.”
The actor added, “Not only did she out me, but they had a big argument about whether I was gay and who talked about me being gay.”
That same week, Aiken reflected on how his “wonderful publicist” and interns did “great work” on finding videos of Ripa placing her hand over Philbin’s mouth throughout the years and sending the clips to the media.
“The tides sort of turned,” Aiken said, explaining that he then sent Ripa flowers, which she thanked him for and allegedly apologized for “blowing” the situation out of proportion.
Per Aiken, Ripa extended an olive branch to him and an offer to return to the show. However, the Broadway star alleged that he’s “tried” to appear on the show but has been unable to return.
A rep for Ripa wasn’t immediately available to Page Six for comment.
Entertainment
QVC host reacts to viral on-air blooper

QVC host Toni Brattin has publicly commented on her viral on-air blooper that saw her mistakenly refer to a “blowout” as a “blowjob” during a wig presentation.
“When we’re doing a show, your mind is going 50 directions,” she told TMZ in a remote interview published Thursday.
“You’re thinking of your models, you’re thinking of the mannequin heads going through the colors, you’re thinking of the next positioning to get all the information out to the customers that they’re wanting, right?”
Brattin explained, “So your brain is really kind of multi-functioning, and you’re kind of in autopilot when you’re talking because you’ve said this so many times.”
Brattin admitted that in the moment, “You almost say to yourself, ‘Did I just say what I think I said?’”
“It was one of those moments, and of course, you can’t grab those words back,” she went on. “They’re out there.”
“I tried to real quick correct it and say the correct terminology — ‘a blowout at your salon’ — but by then, obviously, everyone caught it,” Brattin continued. “I was hearing snickering and then when you’re not supposed to laugh, it just makes it that much more funny.”
Brattin noted that the QVC team was “so kind” following the incident, which she explained “of course” wasn’t “intentional.”
“I mean, I’ve only been doing this for almost 30 years,” she said. “So to have a blooper like this just innocently come out, you have to go with it.
Brattin said the team told her, “I hope you’re able to not be mortified and that you can laugh about it today and in the future,” and told her she did “a great job throwing it over to [her] show host.”
Brattin was showcasing a “Salon Select Wig” from the back on Wednesday, teasing the wig with her fingers and noting its silky wave pattern and smooth texture, when she blurted out, “Again, it looks like you went and got a blowjob at your … blowout … at your salon.”
The wig designer, clearly flustered by the suggestive verbal slipup, froze up before dropping to the studio floor after the mortifying incident, as a model and co-host Teri Conn attempted to stifle giggles.
Following the gaffe, the TV personality’s husband didn’t miss a chance to make a joke of it.
During a “CBS Mornings” interview earlier this week, she recalled him waiting for her in the green room, where he told her “there’s a bar of soap waiting for you in your dressing room.”
“You know, we all make mistakes from time to time,” she added. “This one, after 30 years, just happens to be my biggest blooper ever.”
Entertainment
‘The Simpsons’ actress Nancy Cartwright predicts when hit show will end

“The Simpsons” could have an end date in sight — at least according to one of its longtime stars.
Nancy Cartwright, who has voiced Bart Simpson since 1987, revealed that the animated sitcom may wrap after Season 40, during an appearance on Michael Rosenbaum’s “Inside of You” podcast on Tuesday.
Asked how long she thinks “The Simpsons” will be on the air, Cartwright answered, “40 [seasons].”
The show, which first aired as a standalone series in 1989 after debuting as shorts on “The Tracey Ullman Show” two years earlier, finished its 37th season in February.
Rosenbaum followed up by asking if Cartwright really thought it would stop at 40 seasons.
“Yeah,” Cartwright said, before adding, “It’s my opinion” when he pressed her on whether she was sure.
But Cartwright, who is also responsible for several other voices on the show, made clear that she is open to going beyond 40 seasons if the show wants to continue.
Rosenbaum asked what she would do if producers said, “We wanna keep going?” Cartwright joked, “Are we still alive?” before asking whether everyone else would still be around, too.
Once Rosenbaum confirmed that everyone was still working, Cartwright said, “Yeah, we’ll keep going then.”
Asked if she would stay on for as long as it wanted to continue, she replied, “Absolutely.”
Last year, Fox locked down “The Simpsons” for four more seasons as part of its “Animation Domination” slate, which also features “Family Guy,” “Bob’s Burgers” and “American Dad.”
The animation is also getting its second feature film next year, nearly 20 years after 2007’s “The Simpsons Movie.”
When “The Simpsons” hit its 800th episode earlier this year, showrunner Matt Selman told Page Six that he had never seriously expected the series to be canceled.
“There was never a point where I went to bed thinking, ‘The show is probably going to end. We’re going to have to pack it up and clean all the crap out of our offices,’” Selman said.
Selman also pointed to its arrival on Disney+ following Disney’s 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox as a major factor in bringing in younger viewers.
“A whole new generation of younger fans fell in love with the show and it became their favorite show,” he said.
“The Simpsons” is the longest-running American scripted primetime series in TV history, having surpassed “Gunsmoke” in 2009, and has now aired 808 episodes.
Entertainment
Reese Witherspoon’s father, John, rushed to hospital after being found near pool at Nashville home

Reese Witherspoon’s father, John Draper Witherspoon, was rushed to the hospital Friday, Page Six can confirm.
A source tells us that the 84-year-old was found face down on the concrete by the pool at his Windsor Tower condo in Nashville, Tennessee.
According to our insider, a fellow resident spotted John from their balcony and called downstairs to alert the doorman, who eventually found the actress’ dad near the pool.
“The doorman and building manager rolled him over and they said, ‘Dr. Witherspoon, are you OK?’” the source noted. “He blinked his eyes, and that’s when he was rushed to the hospital.”
Nashville Metro confirmed to Page Six that a medical incident at Windsor Tower did occur on Friday, resulting in someone being rushed to the hospital. However, they did not reveal the identity.
Page Six has reached out to Reese’s reps for comment.
John and his wife, Mary Elizabeth (aka “Betty”), raised Reese and her older brother, also named John, in Nashville.
The “Legally Blonde” star’s parents were both in the medical field. Her mom worked as a nurse, and her dad as a surgeon: an otolaryngologist, specializing in the ears, nose and throat.
John was also a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserves and was stationed in Germany for several years when Reese was a little girl, per People. The family eventually settled in Nashville after John fulfilled his draft obligation for the Vietnam War.
In the ’90s, John and Betty separated and began living separately — news that came to light only when Betty lodged a bigamy lawsuit against John in 2012.
Betty had read about John’s new marriage to Tricianne Taylor in the local newspaper. She demanded that his second marriage be annulled, arguing that John had failed to divorce her before getting married again.
At the time, Betty detailed in the suit that they’d lived separate lives due to John’s issues with alcohol, infidelity and hoarding. Betty hadn’t divorced John and declared she still loved him.
In 2018, Betty told the Australian outlet Women’s Day that she and John had reconciled (per People).
“He has moved back in with me,” she told the publication at the time, noting that they’d been back together “quite a while” and were “still married.”
Both John and Betty were by Reese’s side when she won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line” at the 2006 Academy Awards.
While Reese typically shares candid moments on social media with her mother, her dad has been featured less prominently. However, she did share a recent rare photo of John to celebrate Father’s Day in 2020.
The snap, shared via her Instagram Stories at the time, showed them on a walk together and was captioned, “Hey Dad!”
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