Kathie Lee Gifford | Entertainment News, Photos, and Videos

Kathy Lee Gifford is saying goodbye.

The longtime Today anchor celebrated her final day on the morning show on Friday (April 5) alongside her co-host and friend Hoda Kotb and the rest of the crew.

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Kathie Lee Gifford

The hour included surprises guests including Dean Cain and Ryan Eggold, as well as Barry Manilow, who performed “Cant’ Smile Without You.” Regis Philbin also made a video appearance to pay tribute to his former TV co-host. There was also a surprise segment featuring her son Cody, 28, and daughter Cassidy, 25.

“I have 30 seconds to say what has taken me a lifetime to say,” she said while crying during the final moments of the show.

“Jeremiah 29 says, ‘I know the plans I have you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a future and a hope.’ That’s not just true for me you guys. That’s true for everybody watching. Trust him. Let him love like he wants to love you, like I am loved by all of you. Thank you.”

Watch highlights from her final Today show!

A few months ago, Kathie Lee Gifford announced that she would be stepping away from the fourth hour of the Today show as a longtime co-host with Hoda Kotb.

NBC has announced that Jenna Bush Hager will take over for Kathie Lee and co-host the fourth hour with Hoda.

“It feels humbling and I can’t believe it,” Jenna said. “My dad [former President George W. Bush] just wrote me three words, which made me weep. He said, ‘Very proud dad.’ Which I’m like, what is there to be proud about? I’m just drinking wine in the morning!”

Jenna then offered some words for Kathie Lee, saying, “You have been such a role model and so generous with your time. … You are beloved here in so many ways and if I can use some of your grace and have a half of what you’ve done, my life will be a very happy one.”

Ellen Pompeo responded to a tweet send out by Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb‘s official Twitter account where she expressed a bit of displeasure.

The official account tweeted out, “.@EllenPompeo and @PatrickDempsey haven’t spoken since he left ‘Grey’s Anatomy’” in response to a story that went viral about the former Grey’s co-stars.

Ellen responded, “Hey here’s a suggestion!! Maybe all of you over there lay off the booze and pay attention to the real conversation that took place ?,” and included some crazy face and wine glass emojis.

She then added, “@klgandhoda and whoever is in charge of this account.. the two women you work for deserve to be represented a bit more dignified.”

Kathie Lee just announced her exit from the Today show.

Kathie Lee Gifford is set to leave the Today show after over a decade co-hosting the fourth hour of the morning program with Hoda Kotb.

The news was announced in a memo from NBC News chief Noah Oppenheim, acquired by Deadline.

In a statement, Kathie Lee told Noah, “In 2008, I joined the Today Show family intending to spend one year. But something unexpected happened along the way: I fell in love with a beautiful, talented, extraordinary Egyptian goddess named Hoda, and an amazing group of individuals who work tirelessly and joyfully at their jobs, many of them starting at midnight, creating an unprecedented four hours of live television. I stayed year after year making a million memories with people I will never forget. I leave Today with a grateful heart but I’m truly excited for this new creative season in my life. Many thanks to all the wonderful people who made the years fly by.”

Noah added, “Kathie Lee is generously staying with us through the show’s next anniversary, April 7, 2019. We will have much more to share before then about our plans for that hour, which will, of course, continue to include Hoda.”

The co-hosts of the Today show dress up as iconic figures from the 1980s for Halloween!

Kathie Lee Gifford, Willie Geist, and Carson Daly snapped a pic together on Wednesday (October 31) in New York City.

Kathie went as Madonna in her “Material Girl” music video. Willie channeled Matthew Broderick‘s Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Carson dressed up Bruce Springsteen.

Al Roker and Dylan Dreyer went as Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox’s Back to the Future characters, Dr. Emmett Brown and Marty McFly. Craig Melvin channeled Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem from Coming to America. Sheinelle Jones dressed up as Tina Turner.

Savannah Guthrie went as Cyndi Lauper. Hoda channeled Elton John. Peter Alexander and Jenna Bush Hager dressed up as Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards’ Top Gun characters, Maverick and Goose.

Sunny the dog even channeled Cher!

See all the costumes in our gallery below.

35+ pictures inside of the Today show anchors on Halloween… More Here! »

Kathie Lee Gifford is opening up about why she decided to reach out to Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby after they were both accused of sexual misconduct.

During her interview on Andy Cohen‘s radio show, the 64-year-old Today show host revealed that she reached to both of her friends when their scandals first broke.

“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,” Kathie said. “I’ve been friends with Bill for a long, long time…Harvey Weinstein was a friend of mine for 30 years. I called him and left a message.”

“I just want people to know I don’t judge them. I don’t like what they do, but God knows their hearts and there’s hope for them,” Kathie continued. “You can’t call yourself a friend if the first minute there’s trouble, you run. That’s called a fair-weather friend and that’s not a friend at all.”

Kathie went on to defend herself, saying that she does not approve of anything Bill and Harvey are being accused of.

“I hope people are not misunderstanding this. I’m not saying that that kind of behavior is in any way acceptable. It isn’t, and it’s horrible, and as a woman who has experienced it, it’s awful,” Kathie concluded. “But can we at least look at each individual case and see it for what it is? And be merciful to people who are sorry for what they’ve done? If we stop having mercy as a part of our vocabulary, Andy, our world will completely die.”

Meryl Streep is all smiles while attending the Citymeals on Wheels 31st Annual Power Lunch for Women on Thursday (November 16) held at the Rainbow Room in New York City.

The Academy Award winner appeared at a separate event the day before, where she praised journalists for their bravery, telling the audience she did “know something about real terror”.

Meryl recounted two incidents, one in which she said she was attacked and “played dead and waited until the blows stopped, watching like people say you do from like 50 feet above where I was beaten”.

Meryl then described another incident when she was with Cher when she saw a man attacking a woman. In that case, she said she “went completely nuts” and chased the man off. “I was changed by these events on a cellular level because women do know something particular about coming to the danger place,” Meryl continued. “We come to it disadvantaged through the many millennia preceding our present moment and because of our vulnerability we anticipate danger, we expect it.”

“We’re hyper alert to it, we have the 360 on the whole room,” Meryl added. “”We have measurably more acute hearing, we have a better sense of smell, we notice details, what people are wearing, their tics and peculiarities.”

Also pictured inside at the Citymeals on Wheels event: Liam Neeson, Kathie Lee Gifford and Christie Brinkley.

The event raised over $1 million to provide nearly 136,000 meals to New York’s City’s homebound elderly.