Kathie & Hoda Haters? Where?

March 19, 2012
Anderson Cooper Defends 'Today' Hosts Kathie Lee Gifford And Hoda Kotb From 'Haters' (VIDEO)

Posted: 03/19/2012 -- 10:49 am | Updated: 03/19/2012 -- 11:05 am

Anderson Cooper defended the "Today" show's fourth hour hosts during his "Ridiculist" segment on Friday by taking on what he called "Kathie Lee and Hoda haters."

Cooper said that like "his eyes," Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb were considered national treasures. Cooper said he had never seen anything "unusual" during Gifford and Kotb's show, and wondered what "haters," like "The Soup's" Joel McHale and "Saturday Night Live's" Kristin Wiig, consistently mocked. He then ran a clip of Gifford and Kotb engaged in a feisty on-air pillow fight.

"What's so strange about that?" he asked. "You think Blitzer and Cafferty don't have pillow fights in 'The Situation Room'? If you only knew what went on in 'The Situation Room," Cooper said of his CNN colleagues Wolf Blitzer and Jack Cafferty.

Cooper warned "Kathie Lee and Hoda haters" to clean up their acts. "Pipe down, haters, and let Kathie Lee and Hoda do what they do best—deliver an hour of wine-soaked TV heaven. You know you love it, right down to the last drop," he said.

Kotb responded to Cooper's defense on Monday's "Today." After replaying the clip of Cooper's segment, Kotb drearily said she didn't even know that "Kathie Lee and Hoda haters" existed.