Kathie Lee Gifford: ‘I hate the male-bashing that’s going on in the world today’

Kathie Lee Gifford lamented in a recent interview that modern feminism and the #MeToo movement are leading to the sweeping demonization of all men.

“I hate the male-bashing that’s going on in the world today,” the “Today” show host said Thursday on SiriusXM’s “The Michelle Collins Show.”

“There are a lot of wonderful men,” she said. “I hate this whole thing of, ‘I’m not going to be happy until there’s not a good man left standing.’ I hate that.”

Radio host Michelle Collins pushed back, saying she didn’t believe anybody actually felt that way, to which Ms. Gifford responded, “I do.”

“Oh gosh, I sense it,” Ms. Gifford said. “And I hate it, because there are a lot of great men, great men. And let’s celebrate them, let’s be grateful for them.

“My daddy was one, my husband was one, my son is one. And I hope to maybe someday meet another one,” she joked.

Ms. Gifford made similar comments a day earlier, telling host Andy Cohen on SiriusXM’s “Radio Andy” show that she reached out to her friends Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein after they were accused of sexual assault, The Daily Caller reported.

“I personally, since I got into this business as a teenage girl, I have been sexually harassed, I have been sexually abused and I have been date raped. And don’t tell me they’re all the same ‘cause they are not,” Ms. Giffordexplained. “I don’t want to throw everybody on the same manure pile. Being a jerk is not the same as being a rapist — it just isn’t.

“I hope people are not misunderstanding this,” she said. “I am not saying that that kind of behavior is in any way acceptable. It isn’t, and it’s horrible. As a woman who’s experienced it, it’s awful.

“But, can we at least look at each individual case and see it for what it is, and be merciful to people that are sorry for what they’ve done?” she added. “If we stop having mercy as a part of our vocabulary, Andy, our world will completely die.”