Kathie Lee Gifford's Surprising Bill Cosby Revelation: "He Did Try to Kiss Me"

Find out what the Today host is saying about her longtime friend

On Tuesday's episode of the Today show, Kathie Lee Gifford made a surprising revelation about her longtime friend Bill Cosby, whom she toured with in the '70s.

Gifford's admission comes amid numerous sexual assault allegations against the legendary comedian by various women, including celebs like Beverly Johnson and Janice Dickinson.

"I, along with so many Americans and people around the world, don't want these [accusations] to be true," Gifford said this morning. "I will admit towards the very, very end of the last time I saw him, he did try to kiss me."

The 61-year-old talk show host added, "I said, 'No, Bill, no, we're friends,' and he said, 'OK, good night,' and I said, ‘Good night,' and I went into my room, and he went into his room."

"I'm not saying these women's allegations are not true," Gifford continued. "From my own personal experiences, it didn't happen."

Before Gifford revealed her awkward kiss encounter on Today, she previously spoke out in defense of the 77-year-old icon.

"In the two years I saw a steady parade of all kinds of people going in and out of his house and his dressing room, but Bill was good to people, very generous to people," Gifford told People last month. "I personally never saw him treat a woman the way it's been alleged, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen—I never saw it."

 

Another person who's defending Cosby against the numerous allegations is his wife, Camille Cosby.

"I met my husband, Bill Cosby, in 1963, and we were married in 1964. The man I met, and fell in love with, and whom I continue to love, is the man you all knew through his work. He is a kind man, a generous man, a funny man, and a wonderful husband, father and friend. He is the man you thought you knew," Camille said in a statement yesterday. "A different man has been portrayed in the media over the last two months. It is the portrait of a man I do not know. It is also a portrait painted by individuals and organizations whom many in the media have given a pass. There appears to be no vetting of my husband's accusers before stories are published or aired. An accusation is published, and immediately goes viral."