Clay Aiken revisited a viral 2006 moment on “Live With Regis and Kelly,” where a seemingly “incredibly innocent” joke went badly—leading to a wave of backlash, a week he calls among the worst of his life, and eventually an apology from Kelly Ripa.
Clay Aiken still remembers the minute the room changed.
He was filling in for Regis Philbin on “Live With Regis and Kelly” alongside Kelly Ripa in 2006 when he placed his hand over Ripa’s mouth while she interviewed “Dancing With the Stars” winners Cheryl Burke and Emmitt Smith. What he thought would be a harmless bit quickly became an on-air clash. and the fallout turned into a pop-culture storm that he now calls “probably the most catastrophic week of my life.”.
Aiken looked back on the viral moment Wednesday, June 24, during an interview on the “Hollywood Raw” podcast. He was promoting his new single “Rewind,” his first in 18 years.
Aiken said the gesture was meant as an “incredibly innocent” joke. He recalled that he wasn’t even getting to talk because the segment had cue cards with his name. He tried to be funny anyway, and then noticed the shift.
“I wasn’t getting to talk,” Aiken said. “They had cue cards with my name on them. I tried to be funny, and I did what I did, which was incredibly innocent. And then it got a little cold in the room. I felt bad and I was worried I had upset her.”
Ripa’s reply, delivered in real time, landed sharply. Appearing uncomfortable with Aiken’s gesture, she responded, “I don’t know where that hand’s been, honey.”
Aiken said the situation came during a period when he was pursuing television opportunities. At the time. he was in talks with the show’s syndication distributor. Buena Vista Television. about hosting his own program. He framed the moment as part of that larger effort—wanting to prove he could handle hosting.
“I was on the show because I wanted to show them I could handle this myself – that I could host something,” Aiken said.
When Philbin returned, Ripa addressed the incident on-air. “You don’t put your hands over somebody’s face and mouth when they’re conducting an interview, even if it’s for a laugh,” she said.
The exchange didn’t stay contained to that day. It later became a hot topic after Rosie O’Donnell called the reaction “homophobic” on “The View.” O’Donnell added, “If that was a straight man… if that was Mario Lopez she would not have said the same thing.”
Ripa then called into the show to respond. She told listeners, “I have three kids. He’s shaking hands with everybody in the audience. I mean, it’s cold and flu season. That’s what I meant. To imply that it’s anything homophobic is outrageous, Rosie, and you know better. You should be more responsible.”.
Aiken, who had not publicly come out at the time, said the controversy was distressing and again described it as “probably the most catastrophic week of my life.”
Once the backlash started, he leaned into it rather than retreating. Later that week at the American Music Awards. Aiken joked about it with Tori Spelling. humorously placing her hand over his mouth “to take back ownership of it. ” as he put it. He said his publicist also circulated clips to media showing Ripa covering Philbin’s mouth on previous episodes—something Aiken said was when “the tide kind of turned.”.
Afterward, he and Ripa tried to move past it the way some public disputes can’t: privately. Aiken said he sent Ripa flowers, and she followed up with a call.
“She apologized for it becoming blown out of proportion and everything,” he recalled. “She said, ‘I’d love to come back on the show anytime.’”
He said he attempted to return too, but it didn’t happen. “I tried to come back on the show, but we were not allowed,” Aiken said. “So I just haven’t tried since. It’s not a big deal.”
Even years later, he said the episode still clung to him in public spaces. “I’d get stopped a lot in the airport to take a picture,” Aiken said. “They’d say, ‘No, no, put your hand over my mouth.’”
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