14 DAY TRIAL // Kathie Lee Gifford put her foot in it on the latest segment of her and Hoda's show on The Today, when she interviewed Martin Short and asked him how his wife was doing even though she's been dead for almost two years.
Video of what is currently being called the most awkward and embarrassing (and just as well easily avoidable) moments in daytime television is below.
Short made an appearance on Kathie Lee and Hoda's show to promote “Madagascar 3” and, at one point, the conversation turned more personal which, this once, wasn't something viewers at home were expecting to see.
Smiling, Kathie Lee basically congratulated Martin for having one of the most solid and beautiful marriages in showbiz, even asking him how long they've been married.
The actor's wife, Nancy Dolman died in August 2010 of ovarian cancer, which Kathie Lee obviously ignored completely.
“And you and Nancy have one of the greatest marriages of anybody in show business. How many years now for you guys?” she asked smiling.
A clearly embarrassed Martin replies, “We ... have ... married ... 36 years.”
Kathie Lee pushes the topic further, and it's very gracious of Martin not to point out to her her huge faux pas live on air.
He even jokes that the secret to his marriage is that he's “cute,” and replies in the positive when Kathie Lee asks him whether he and his wife still make each other laugh.
After the break, Kathie Lee read an apology, saying she had no idea Nancy had died almost two years back and revealing that Martin chose to break the news to her when they weren't on the air.
She also said that his wife would have liked him to “keep the conversation going,” adding, “I feel so badly, my apologies to him and his family.”
Nevertheless, voices online point out, that doesn't change the fact that such an embarrassing and probably painful (for Short) moment could have been oh so easily avoided.
