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Clay Aiken<\/a> just addressed his infamous feud with Kelly Ripa<\/a>, followed by Rosie O\u2019Donnell<\/a> accidentally outing him on live TV, 20 years after the uncomfortable incidents.<\/p>\n During the June 24 episode of the Hollywood Raw<\/em><\/a> podcast, the American Idol<\/a><\/em> Season 2 runner-up \u2014 who finished second to Ruben Studdard<\/a> in 2003 \u2014 finally opened up about the 2006 talk show drama. It all went down in 2006, when Aiken guest-co-hosted Live With Regis and Kelly<\/em><\/a> while Regis Philbin<\/a> was out on a Friday. At one point, Aiken playfully placed his hand over Ripa\u2019s mouth<\/a> after she kept skipping over his cue cards to ask their guests questions.<\/p>\n \u201cIs that a no-no?\u201d Aiken, now 47, asked afterward, as she looked visibly stunned.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, that\u2019s a no, no, no,\u201d Ripa, now 55, replied. \u201cI don\u2019t know where that hand\u2019s been, honey.\u201d<\/p>\n The following Monday, Ripa brought up the tense moment<\/a> with Philbin (who died in 2020) on Live<\/em>. \u201cThere was a lack of respect, and when you\u2019re a certain person, you\u2019re in the public eye, you have to be respectful of other people,\u201d she said on the talk show. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t think that he was respectful in any way. If that upsets his fans, I\u2019m sorry to hear that, but you don\u2019t put your hands over somebody\u2019s face and mouth when they\u2019re conducting an interview, even if it\u2019s for a laugh. And that\u2019s all I\u2019m gonna say.\u201d<\/p>\n Unfortunately for Aiken, the public commentary didn\u2019t end there. On The View<\/a><\/em>, O\u2019Donnell, now 64, called Ripa\u2019s reaction \u201chomophobic,\u201d prompting the Live<\/em> co-host to call into the show<\/a>. Ripa defended herself against O\u2019Donnell\u2019s claim, explaining, \u201cI have three kids. He\u2019s shaking hands with everybody in the audience. I mean, it\u2019s cold and flu season. That\u2019s what I meant. To imply that it\u2019s anything homophobic is outrage.\u201d<\/p>\n Fast-forward 20 years, and Aiken was asked if he and Ripa ever made up after the mouth-covering incident. Aiken said they hadn\u2019t, telling Hollywood Raw<\/em>, \u201cListen, I didn\u2019t have the problem. I wasn\u2019t the one who was upset. We have been at a few places at the same time\u2026 Maybe I should feel bad, but I have not gone up and said something myself. But she hasn\u2019t either.\u201d<\/p>\n Aiken also acknowledged that the talk show moment \u201cbecame this huge blow-up,\u201d describing it as the \u201cmost catastrophic week of my life.\u201d He explained, \u201cI wasn\u2019t getting to talk. Like, there were cue cards. They had my name on them. So 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 really worried that I had upset her.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> ‘American Idol’ Star Clay Aiken’s Son Parker Is All Grown Up in Prom Photo<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Related<\/p>\n Of O\u2019Donnell saying that Ripa\u2019s remarks were \u201chomophobic,\u201d Aiken pointed out, \u201cI was not out at the time. I was to Rosie, I was out to people who I knew, but I wasn\u2019t publicly out about it. I was not out to my grandparents and, you know, people in my family.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued, \u201cAnd not only does Rosie call it a homophobic remark \u2014 which I think she accidentally said, and then she tried to walk it back a little bit \u2014 but then Kelly calls in live to The View<\/em> that day and they get into an argument\u2026 I was caving in on myself. So it was a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n‘American Idol’ Star Clay Aiken’s Son Parker Is All Grown Up in Prom Photo<\/a><\/h3>\n