When Kelly Ripa found out via the media that her “Live! With Kelly and Michael”; co-host Michael Strahan was leaving the show, reports claimed she felt blindsided and betrayed.
Now, for the first time since the controversy, Ripa is telling her side of the story in a new cover story in “People”;.
In the issue, which hits newsstands on Friday, Ripa underlines the importance of treating people well in the workplace.
“I think that all people are deserving of fair treatment in the work place. People deserve respect,”; Ripa explains. “People should be treated equally and with dignity.”;
She adds: “I think that requires a certain amount of empathy on a level. When you’re dealing with big business, it’s easy to forget that you’re dealing with people and that people have feelings. It’s easy to just look at it like a business unit, a unit, a unit.”;
Related: ABC Execs Issue Apologies To Kelly Ripa And Michael Strahan
As Ripa explains, she’s still trying to come to grips with the way the situation was handled. “There’s a part of me that can say, ‘OK, I understand. This may have been an oversight.’ And again, after 26 years, at this point we are like a family. And sometimes when you are so comfortable with somebody, you may not give them the same consideration as somebody you’re not as comfortable with — a certain formality falls away.”;
She also tries to downplay the drama: “I’m not dealing with monsters,”; she says. “I don’t think of anybody as a monster or out to get me. But sometimes stability and dependability can be misinterpreted as passive. Like, “Oh, we don’t have to worry about her, she’s fine. She’s fine.’ “
In fact, she states: “And I am fine, but I need assurances that we’re all going to be fine.”;
You can read the entire interview in the next issue of “People”;.
