Kathie Lee Gifford is standing by her late friend and collaborator Regis

Philbin after Kelly Ripa said that her experience working with the beloved TV host “was not a cakewalk.”

In a Monday interview with Fox 5 NY, Gifford said she will not be reading Ripa’s new book after the

“Live With Kelly and Ryan” host recently opened up about the “good days and bad days” she had with Philbin

Gifford and Philbin co-hosted “Live With Regis and Kathie Lee”

about 12 years before Ripa replaced Gifford for “Live With Regis and Kelly.

“I was very sorry to see the headlines” from Ripa’s interview with People

magazine promoting her book and describing her complicated relationship with Philbin, Gifford told Fox 5 NY.

“We see headlines all the time, and you never know what’s true and what’s not true.

I saw that, and I went, ‘Oh, I hope this isn’t true.’ ... Because what’s the point? I don’t get it.”

who died in July 2020 at age 88 — as “the best partner a person could ever, ever have, professionally.”