Kathie Lee banned from 'Live With Regis'

Producers of "Live with Regis" said Kathie Lee Gifford's presence would distract viewers as candidates audition for the co-host job

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- You can't go home again. Kathie Lee Gifford is persona non grata on the set of "Live with Regis," the show she helped make a staple of daytime TV -- at least for now.

Producers of the syndicated morning talk show Gifford co-hosted with Regis Philbin for 15 years, until she left July 28, have declared the program off-limits to her while they seek a permanent replacement, a spokeswoman said Friday.

The dictum applies to guest appearances by Gifford as well as any promotion of her latest projects, including an album of pop songs she recently released.

Producers believe her presence would distract viewers from making a connection with the various guest hosts auditioning to become Philbin's new partner.

"We need to gain some physical and commercial separation from Kathie Lee during the search for her replacement," Tom Kane, president and general manager of WABC-TV in New York, which produces the show, said in a statement. "We can all see a day when she'll appear on the show again as a guest, and when her commercial endeavors are promoted during the show, but only after we've been able to reestablish ourselves with a new co-host."

A spokeswoman for the show denied that producers were perturbed by her appearance last Friday opposite "Live" on morning talk show "Today," where Gifford performed a song from her new album, "Heart of a Woman."

Asked by "Today" co-host Matt Lauer whether she would sing on Philbin's show, Gifford replied, "I'd love to, but I think they got a little angry when we booked the 'Today' show so soon."

"Live" publicist Debbie Dolins insisted no one on the show was angry with Gifford.

"There are no hard feelings. ... It's all friendly," she said, adding that Gifford had not expressed an interest in being on "Live" since she left the show.

On the CBS "Late Show with David Letterman" Thursday night, Gifford told Letterman she would not go on "Live" to promote her album because she objected to the show's common practice of editing songs for length.

"You give a song its due, you don't cut out three minutes of a five-minute song," she told Letterman.

Gifford's agent declined comment, and her publicist could not immediately be reached.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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