{"id":18441,"date":"2024-06-05T09:39:55","date_gmt":"2024-06-05T13:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=18441"},"modified":"2024-06-05T09:39:55","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T13:39:55","slug":"kathie-lee-gifford-says-howard-stern-asked-for-her-forgiveness-after-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2024\/06\/kathie-lee-gifford-says-howard-stern-asked-for-her-forgiveness-after-fight.html","title":{"rendered":"Kathie Lee Gifford Says Howard Stern Asked For Her Forgiveness After Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dylan Armajani\/Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kathie Lee Gifford was shocked when Howard Stern called to apologize. The former \u201cToday\u201d co-anchor recently wrote a new book titled \u201cI Want to Matter: Your Life Is Too Short and Too Precious to Waste.\u201d It explores the power of self-love and features self-reflecting questions for readers to understand their hopes and dreams better. In the book, Gifford discussed the power of forgiveness and how it ended a decades-long feud with Stern.<\/p>\n

The 70-year-old recalled to Fox News Digital, \u201cIt was a surprise to get a voicemail from Howard Stern. Once I listened to it, I said to my kids at the table,\u00a0\u2018Well, pigs have now officially flown. . . . [But] I just always believe\u00a0God can touch\u00a0anybody\u2019s\u00a0heart . . .\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0not allowed to hate anybody that hates me. Once you start praying for people, you\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0hate them. Love cannot live where hate does, and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a very simple\u00a0thing. As you grow in your faith, you learn,\u00a0\u2018I’ve got to pray for that person right now. What they just said was so horrible.’ Just pray. Ask God to heal them because\u00a0hurt\u00a0people, hurt people.\u00a0It’s\u00a0the truth.”<\/p>\n

The bad blood first boiled in 1995 after\u00a0Gifford had been chosen\u00a0to sing the\u00a0national anthem at Super Bowl XXIX.\u00a0Her husband, NFL star Frank Gifford, would\u00a0be hosting the live telecast. According to the book, Gifford heard booing as she sang\u00a0“The Star-Spangled Banner.” Gifford soon learned that Stern had asked his fans to boo Gifford when she\u00a0was introduced\u00a0on stage. She described the experience as\u00a0“completely surreal”\u00a0as she had never met Stern nor listened to his radio show. However, everything would change years later when Stern was a guest on\u00a0“Today”\u00a0to announce he was joining the\u00a0judging panel at\u00a0“America’s\u00a0Got Talent.”<\/p>\n

Gifford said, “The Lord\u2026 said,\u00a0‘Kathie, go down and say hello to him, and wish him well with the show.'” And I said,\u00a0‘OK,\u00a0Lord.’\u00a0I got up out of my hair and makeup [room]. Those girls had\u00a0been told,\u00a0‘Don\u2019t\u00a0let Kathie go anywhere near the studio.\u2019\u2026\u00a0I\u00a0couldn’t\u00a0care less. I go downstairs. They go,\u00a0\u2018Where are you going?\u2019\u00a0I said,\u00a0\u2018I\u2019m\u00a0going to go say hello to Howard.\u2019\u201d She said, “He\u2019s\u00a0very,\u00a0very tall, and I was in my little flats\u00a0coming in from Connecticut,”\u00a0said Gifford.\u00a0“. . . There were so many people that day because he brings\u00a0quite the\u00a0entourage. I said,\u00a0\u2018Hey,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0Kathie Lee.\u2019\u00a0I thought it was about time. I said,\u00a0\u2018I\u00a0want to\u00a0wish you all the best with the new show.\u2019\u00a0I got up, went back, sat down in the makeup room.\u00a0They\u2019d\u00a0said,\u00a0\u2018Why\u2019d\u00a0you do that?\u2019 I said,\u00a0\u2018God told me to.\u2019”<\/p>\n