When scandal surfaces, the public is quick to pounce on the offender like a pack of wolves — and often rightfully so, in the sense that seeking justice is a noble pursuit.
But often, on the scale that balances justice and mercy, the latter can be outweighed by the wave of rage following the wrongdoing.
Perhaps there’s no greater example of this than the recent Harvey Weinstein scandal, where the movie mogul was accused of sexually assaulting dozens of women. Unsurprisingly, the news sparked mass public outrage and created the powerful #MeToo movement in its wake.
But in several of these cases, while everyone else was throwing stones at the perpetrators, TODAY Show host Kathie Lee Gifford explained why she picked up the phone to call the offenders who quickly became the most hated men in America overnight.
In an interview with Andy Cohen, the 49-year-old host asked Gifford if she reached out to Bill Cosby and Weinstein after news of their sexual allegations broke.
She replied, “Yes, I’ve been friends with Bill a long, long time… Harvey Weinstein was a friend of mine for 30 years.”