If you follow her on Instagram, then you know that Live With Kelly and Ryan host Kelly Ripa posts a lot of photos that get people talking.
A few weeks ago, the Inquisitr reported that the 47-year-old shared a glimpse of her tropical working vacation in the Bahamas with a series of photos that were posted to her Instagram page. While filming her hit show, Kelly enjoyed tropical activities like paddle boarding and aqua cycling. But a seemingly light-hearted photo posted to her Instagram account yesterday had social media users in an argument.
In the photo, Ripa and Heidi Klum can be seen pulling the pants off of Live guest co-host Jerry O’Connell. In the caption of the picture, Ripa exclaims, “let your birthday suit fly” before wishing Jerry a happy birthday from the “twins.”
Many of Ripa’s 1.6 million-plus followers did not think that the photo was very appropriate and thought that it was a “double standard,” claiming that if the roles were reversed and if O’Connell was pulling off Ripa’s pants, the story would be all over the news for all the wrong reasons.
“Really, imagine if a man did this to a female colleague…double standards abound.”
“Then we wonder why there’s a #metoo movement in Hollywood,” another chimed in.
A post shared by Kelly Ripa (@kellyripa) on
Countless other followers lashed out at Ripa for the “tasteless” photo while some other followers came to her defense, arguing that people are way too sensitive nowadays. Even one Andy Cohen stuck up for his longtime friend by sharing his thoughts on the post.
“People are begging for things to be outraged about. Begging! This is beautiful love and I’m gonna pull @mrjerryoc ‘s pants down next time I see him,” the Bravo mastermind said.
When Ripa saw Cohen’s comment on the post, she immediately replied, thanking Andy for being the “voice of reason” in all the madness. The talk show host also added lip emojis to the end of the post before apologizing in advance if the lips had offended anyone.
The mother of three also defended the photo to fans by telling them the backstory behind the now-controversial picture. Ripa explained to fans that the photo was taken on the set of Live With Kelly and Ryan during a commercial break and in front of the studio audience. Jerry was actually changing into a swimsuit that was under his actual suit when the photo was staged.
O’Connell himself also commented on the picture, saying “heart you.” In addition, Jerry’s wife, Rebecca Romijn commented that the picture was “amazing.”
Kelly’s husband, Mark Consuelos also came to the defense of his wife by telling people to do “their research” before commenting on a picture that they don’t really know anything about.
In all, the photo sparked a ton of attention with over 32,000 likes as well as 1,000 plus comments.
