Kathie Lee Gifford addressed rumors surround her husband, Frank Gifford, and Johnny Carson’s second wife, Joanne. The alleged affair between Joanne and Frank was revealed by Carson’s former lawyer, Henry Bushkin, in his tell-all memoir, due out later this month.
As the story goes, Johnny Carson believed his wife was cheating on him in 1962. So, the late night host, carrying a pistol, broke into his wife’s secret Manhattan apartment and found it full of photos of another man — Giants football star Frank Gifford.
Kathie Lee isn’t the only one to denounce the cheating story , notes USA Today . Joanne Carson, who is now 81, also shot it down, saying that they were simply friends. She added that Johnny was “jealous.”
At the time of the alleged affair, Frank was married to his first wife, Maxine. Kathy Lee put the rumors to rest, saying, “No, it’s not true. That particular one, although we all know what the man is capable of, as you know.”
Bushkin was hired by Carson in 1962 and one of his first jobs was to go with Carson during the break in. The lawyer recalled in his memoir, Johnny Carson , that the late night host told him, “I have reason to believe my wife is cheating on me. I also have an idea who the son of a b*tch is that she’s shacking up with.”
Upon entering the house, the pair spotted photos of Frank Gifford on the walls. Bushkin remembered, “Carson leaned against the living room wall and began to weep. I realized that I was probably one of the very few people who ever saw Johnny Carson cry.”
Joanne Carson spoke with The New York Post about the cheating allegations, denying them flat out . She explained that the apartment actually belonged to her secretary, though it had some of her things in it. She added that Bushkin’s story is “delusional.”
While Kathy Lee denied rumors about Frank, her husband has yet to make any comments on the situation.
[Image via Dylan Armajani / Shutterstock.com ]