Kelly Ripa talks bluntly about sexism during her Live! career
In a new interview, Kelly Ripa reveals the sexism and inequality behind the scenes of her 22 years of Live!
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Kelly Ripa is one of the longest-tenured female stars currently on television, so of course she has Seen Some Shit. Ripa has spoken up about mistreatment on Live! before; she famously delivered a monologue live after being blindsided by Michael Strahan’s exit announcement in 2016. But in a new interview with Variety, she’s opening up further about the outright sexism she’s endured during her 22 years on the ABC series.
For one thing, there were years of pay inequality. She was well used to that from her days on All My Children (wherein her husband Mark Consuelos was paid “far more” than she was, despite him starting years after her). She didn’t expect her salary to match a longtime veteran like Regis Philbin’s, either. Yet she says the inequality persisted until her contract was up and ABC executives realized she would quit. “I don’t think they wanted to pay me. I think they had to pay me,” she says. “I was trying to walk out the door and close it behind me. And I think they really figured out rapidly that they had screwed up in a major way, and it was not a good look. I think that was really the impetus behind paying me fairly. They had no choice.”
Other indignities she suffered over the years range from mundane to egregious. When she started, she didn’t get paid vacation or maternity leave, a wardrobe budget, or the use of her own hair and makeup team. She fought for years to have her own office, only to be granted a desk in an actual janitor’s closet in her fourth year. When she took over Philbin’s office (against the wishes of the network, which was “saving” it for “the new guy”), they quickly knocked down some walls to make Strahan an office “twice as big.” She also didn’t have her own bathroom for many years, and was stuck waiting in line for the public toilet with the studio audience. “Particularly when I was pregnant, it was extraordinarily exhausting to have to wait in line,” she recalls. “I have to host the show, and I’m still waiting in line to use the bathroom. It just seemed, you know, a very needlessly difficult situation.”
Ripa’s situation improved in 2018 when Debra O’Connell, president of networks for Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, began overseeing the show. “From my perspective, they’re putting more and more women in positions of power, and women just are, from my experience, more willing to hear and solve problems in real time,” she says. “It really makes a difference when you have people that are behind you who come aboard. It’s powerful.”
Entering a new era of the show with husband and new co-host Consuelos, Ripa is already thinking about training up her replacement and taking some time off. But she does hope to leave behind a culture of equality in the workplace. “It’s the only reason I speak out,” she says. “It’s not just that I have a daughter. I have co-workers. I have people in my life that I care about. I don’t want them to have to scrape for the scraps.”
23 Comments
Sharing the public bathroom is an absolute WTF moment.
You would think on air talent would have to have a private bathroom. If they have a bathroom emergency during the show they don’t have time to wait in line. Commercial breaks aren’t that long.
Hell, not just on-air but the behind the camera crew as well. No one involved in the production should have to use the same bathroom as the audience. It would still be shabby if Ripa had to use the same bathroom as the staff, but at least she wouldn’t be dealing with lines.
I just watched an episode of the Larry Sanders show where has to use the bathroom backstage during commercial breaks but keeps getting roped into conversations & has to run back out to the stage. In the last attempt, 2 guests are in the bathroom and are taking up the stall and urinal. A ridiculous episode but he’s not using a bathroom with the audience, which is actually crazier than the fictional talk show!
And imagine, you’re on air hosting, you’re “on,” and then you have to go stand in line with the audience, which means you have to remain “on” and charming even while doing the pee pee dance. That’s insane. Even if she didn’t get her very own bathroom, there’s not a bathroom backstage just for the people who work there??
Just from a liability perspective, it’s insane that you’d have your on-air staff hang out with the general public in a room where everyone’s pants are down. Maybe it’s a room with one stall, which makes things marginally better, but it’s still awkward as hell even from the audience’s perspective. What if you clog the toilet and you know the person behind you is Kelly Ripa?
What if you clog the toilet and you ARE Kelly Ripa?!
“I don’t think they wanted to pay me. I think they had to pay me,” she says. “I was trying to walk out the door and close it behind me. And I think they really figured out rapidly that they had screwed up in a major way, and it was not a good look. I think that was really the impetus behind paying me fairly. They had no choice.” Someone should have told her long before that’s what it takes for anyone to be paid what they’re worth. I do believe men are programmed to be confrontational and so are much more likely than women to say “fuck you, I’m out of here” as a negotiating tactic.
Or …..women are more often penalized for confrontational behavior so its a gambit with more risk. Especially if your brand is literally to be “easy going every woman” in that role.
insane thing to think.
How so? Polls and studies show that women are generally less comfortable negotiating compensation, with lower salaries a direct result. I’m not just pulling this out of my ass.
Yes, we are less comfortable negotiating because we are more often penalized for it than men.
Women are less comfortable negotiating because they are punished for speaking up for themselves. Literally just an article one the front page of the new todayhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/27/emotional-labor-work-women-career-gender
“Polls and studies show…”*proceeds to not present any actual polls or studies*
Why Don’t More Women Negotiate? (forbes.com) According to a recent survey published by Glassdoor, “Women negotiated less than their male counterparts. Sixty-eight percent of women accepted the salary they were offered and did not negotiate, a 16-percentage point difference when compared to men (52%).”
Jesus, are you a moron?
You think she doesn’t know that? She also knows how women in the industry are treated. Imagine thinking you know her situation better than her. This is why I don’t respect men.
“I do believe men are programmed to be confrontational.”Absolutely.
GELMAN!
Jesus Shit, her male co-hosts wouldn’t let her use their private bathroom?! Her having to deal with this shit was bad enough, but they just fucking let it happen.
Jesus didn’t get His own bathroom either, but I bet He would’ve let a pregnant person go ahead of Him.
No, He predated toilets. I think they just went wherever. It was a different time.
Wow, ABC should be ashamed of themselves. Those are terrible.