Martin Short, Kathie Lee Gifford Awkward Interview
They got married in 1980, and Nancy retired from showbiz five years later to be a stay-at-home mom and raise their family, with she and Martin adopting three children over the years.
Tragically, Nancy died of ovarian cancer in August 2010, and Martin has been open about how his wife's passing impacted him over the years.
In 2014, Martin revealed that before she died, Nancy had told him that she didn't want a funeral."She once said to me: 'I don't want a funeral, and I don't want a memorial. Throw a party, or not,'' he recalled on The Meredith Vieira Show. "So I just followed her wishes. We went up. We had a party with all the family — about 30 close friends and family. The kids and I went into a boat. We sprinkled the ashes in the water, and we jumped into the ashes.'
And speaking to The Hollywood Reporter just last year, Martin said of Nancy's death: "It was absolutely horrible, obviously, and as sad as anything. I will tell you what I said to my kids at the time: 'I believe Mom has zoomed into our souls.'"
He then mentioned a George Eliot quote that he'd also shared with his children when their mom died, saying: 'George Eliot said: 'Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them.' We were together for 36 years. I didn't want to forget Nancy."
Now, Martin has won widespread praise for the 'classy' way he handled Kathie Lee Gifford discussing his marriage with Nancy unaware that she had died during an awkward interview on the Today Show.
For context, the actor was on the show to promote his movie Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, and how he reacted to Kathie's questions about his and Nancy's relationship is beyond impressive.
It all started when Kathie asked: 'You and Nancy have one of the greatest marriages of anybody in show business, how many years now for you guys?'
After a slight hesitation, Martin replied: 'We, uh… Married 36 years.' Kathie then pushed: 'But you're still, like, in love?' to which Martin confirmed: 'Madly in love. Madly in love.''Why?' Kathie followed up with a laugh, and here, Martin offered a slight shrug before joking: 'Cute, I'm cute.' The host then said: 'And you make each other laugh, right?' To which Martin said 'yes' before Kathie's co-host, Hoda Kotb, changed the subject.
Discussing the resurfaced clip on a Reddit forum, a popular comment lauded Martin for the 'generous' way that he responded to Kathie's questions. It reads: 'I've seen this clip a few times, and it's a complete Masterclass from Marty on how to be a classy, generous public figure.'
'He didn't want to embarrass her or make it awkward so he just went with it and took the chance to talk about the woman he loved. A class act,' somebody else echoed.While another wrote: 'Very classy response from Martin. I know it wasn't malicious on Kathie Lee's part, but I'm dumbfounded how she didn't know about his wife's passing. It should've been basic info to know when she was prepping to interview a guest.'One more noted: 'His eyes are so sad 😭😭''Martin handled this with so much grace,' another user wrote. 'I know he didn't want to embarrass her and she didn't mean it, but interviewers (or the people responsible for research) really need to do background research on the people they interview."
At the time, Kathie acknowledged her misstep after a commercial break, telling viewers: 'I felt so badly for my question. Marty very kindly came up to me and told me what I had done, and I want to say my sincerest, sincerest apologies to him and to his family for not realizing what I was doing on live television.'
She also tweeted after the show: 'I send my sincerest apologies to @MartinShort and his family. He handled the situation w/enormous grace and kindness and I'm so grateful.'
And Martin was just as gracious about Kathie's blunder off-screen as he was on. The star was asked about the incident in a subsequent interview with E! News, where he said: 'I think that it's live television and people make mistakes and there's no ill will intended.'
Martin, now 75, has been romantically linked to his Only Murders In The Building costar Meryl Streep since the start of 2024, but the two have not confirmed their relationship.
You can watch the full Today Show clip below, let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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