A new book by Henry Bushkin claims that Frank Gifford, husband of TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford, had an affair with Johnny Carson’s second wife, Joanne. The alleged affair occurred in the 1960s, however Kathie Lee Gifford addressed the scandal Tuesday on Today.
According to Bushkin’s tell-all, he was hired as a private eye when Carson suspected his wife of cheating on him. Supposedly, Carson found framed photographs of the former New York Giant in his Joanne’s possession.
Joanne Carson, now 81, told The New York Post that she never had an affair with Gifford.
“Now I do know that Johnny was jealous of him, because he knew that he had been a friend of mine,” Joanne said to The Post.
Kathie Lee also denied the rumors in her morning segment on Today. “No, it’s not true,” Gifford said in regards to Bushkin’s allegations.
In 1962, the purported time of the affair, Gifford was married to his first wife Maxine. It wasn’t until 1986 that he married Kathie Lee, over 15 years after Bushkin claims the affair occurred.
Bushkin’s salacious book comes out on Oct. 15th, but Joanne Carson has some marketing advice for Carson’s former lawyer.
Joanne told The Post, “He should release it under fiction.”
Image: Peter Kramer/NBC