Michael reportedly didn't give Kelly an advance warning about his departure from 'Live! with Kelly and Michael' as she found out about the news the same time Disney made the announcement.
- Apr 20, 2016
AceShowbiz - Kelly Ripa is "ballistic" over Michael Strahan's shocking departure from their show "Live! with Kelly and Michael", according to TMZ. Kelly felt she was shockingly disrespected by Michael and Disney honchos as they didn't give Kelly an advance warning about his departure.
Kelly found out about Michael's departure on Tuesday, April 19 at 10:30 A.M., the same time Disney made the announcement that he's leaving "Live!" to join "Good Morning America". She reportedly never got a call from Bob Iger or anyone else at the studio.
Sources claim Kelly, and virtually everyone on her show, feels Disney has screamed to the world they don't care about "Live!" and their singular focus is breathing life into "GMA". According to the sources, there's serious talk about giving "Live!" the boot at 9:00 A.M. and adding a third hour to "GMA".
Rumor has it, Kelly's close pal Anderson Cooper is now the frontrunner to replace Michael on "Live!". Sources tell Page Six that Andy Cohen was among those who also want the gig. "The phones were already ringing," says the source, "Every agent out there wants to get their client a shot at that seat."
Anderson has a prime situation to take over Michael's seat as his contract with CNN reportedly ends after the election. Back in 2011, "Anderson had just signed a deal to do his own daytime show," ruling him out of the "Live!" job, an insider said. His syndicated show ran until 2013, "so he has experience doing daily daytime."
However, another source says "Live!" will look to replace Michael "in the fall with the start of the new season. They had a lot of fun with it last time. It took about 10 months before they settled on Michael."
