Marriage to Kathie Lee...living hell!
AGC Gossip
Hubby of 7 years finally breaks his silence. Why is Paul Johnson spilling his
heart out about his agonizing marriage to Kathie Lee? Ever since she published
her autobiography seven years ago, Paul says, "I've been hounded by relentless
questions that Kathie Lee has set in motion. I'm sick of it. Remaining silent
hasn't worked. For my family's sake and my own sake, I can no longer let her
stories go unchallenged." The lies, the jealous rages. . . the nonstop lust for
fame that wrecked their marriage. Kathie Lee Gifford was the bride from heaven
who became the wife from hell. 'Kathie Lee truly believes the world revolves
around her '
In an exclusive ENQUIRER interview, Kathie Lee's first husband Paul Johnson
reveals the intimate truth about the talk show queen and their marriage of
seven years.
Johnson was a successful record producer when he married Kathie Lee, but soon
discovered her relentless pursuit of fame would plunge him into a marital
nightmare that haunts him until this day.
He says Kathie Lee was manipulative and controlling, jealous of other artists
he produced, and emotionally tormented him behind the scenes of their
"picture-perfect" marriage.
The marriage came under such tremendous strain, the couple desperately turned
to counseling. "I just couldn't live in her fantasy world anymore and I
couldn't picture things ever changing," Johnson recalls.
"I see Frank Gifford with the same confused look on his face that I used to
get. To me it clearly says, 'What hit me? How do I get out of here?' " revealed
Johnson.
The talented composer told The ENQUIRER:
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' I truly felt there was a screw loose in her mind. . . I wanted to tighten it
up '
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"Kathie Lee turned our marriage into something to exploit early on. She turned
our relationship into show-biz material and I felt like a prop in her fairy
tale."
The budding beauty was 22 and Paul was 29 when they married in 1976. But it
wasn't love at first sight.
"Kathie Lee was star-struck by anybody in show business when I first met her.
She twisted the arm of a friend to introduce us one day at a recording studio
in Hollywood. She loved my recordings and gushed all over me like a groupie. I
was flattered by the attention coming from a pretty girl, but it felt way over
the top to me."
Not long after that encounter, Kathie Lee dropped out of college and moved to
Paul's neighborhood. "She'd take my secretary and other girlfriends out to
lunch and pump them full of questions about me. She'd show up at my recording
sessions and concerts and invite herself to parties in my home. I felt like I
was being stalked, and it really turned me off.
"When a Las Vegas producer called me looking for a singer in his show I said,
'I know just the girl!' Kathie Lee was thrilled to get the job and I was
relieved to get her out of my hair."
But all that changed months later after Paul met Kathie Lee's family.
"I was so impressed with her mom and dad and brother and sister. I thought if
this was the kind of family she came from, I must have misjudged her. I started
to see Kathie Lee in a whole different light after that," Johnson recalls.
Paul and Kathie Lee started working together in the studio after her return
from Las Vegas. "We spent a lot of time together, and our working relationship
evolved into a dating relationship almost effortlessly," says Johnson.
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' I see Frank Gifford with that same confused look on his face that I used to
get'
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"Kathie Lee seemed to really understand and appreciate my work, and her
devotion to me was flattering and disarming. I found myself surprised to be
falling in love with her after the way I had felt toward her in the past."
The couple tied the knot in Johnson's home in a private ceremony with no music
and no fanfare. "The fact that Kathie Lee was willing to marry me without
putting on a big show convinced me that she truly did love me. Most of my
friends thought she was a gold digger, but I was convinced they were wrong,"
Johnson recalls.
At first, the marriage was like a Hollywood dream come true. "Kathie Lee was
devoted and loyal. There were many good times. She was a sensational cook and
hostess -- and could stretch a dime further than anybody I'd ever known."
Johnson thought the two had a great time on their Acapulco honeymoon -- but
later got the shock of his life.
"I never knew Kathie Lee was disappointed the first time we made love until I
read it in her 1992 autobiography. In her book, 'I Can't Believe I Said That!'
Kathie Lee says: 'I spent the first night of my married life sobbing my eyes
out, feeling we had just made the biggest mistake of our lives.' "
But Johnson angrily responds, "I don't know where she comes up with this
nonsense. She made the whole thing up."
In fact, The ENQUIRER discovered that just four months after the couple's
wedding, Kathie Lee told Christian Life magazine: "Paul liberated me . . . I
love Paul more each day."
What's more, she was so pleased with her marriage that she revealed in the
article that she was writing a marriage manual titled "Don't Ms. Out On Mrs."
Her resentful ex-husband fumes, "Either she was lying about our marriage then,
or she's lying now. She can't have it both ways.
"All through the Christian Life article, she said things that had no basis in
reality whatsoever. For instance, she claimed she'd soon be doing a syndicated
show that would be on 50 stations. It was a complete fabrication!
"I truly felt like there was a screw loose in Kathie Lee's mind and I wanted to
figure out what it was so I could tighten it up."
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' She would come on to older men right in front of me '
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Although acknowledging that his new bride was a "handful," Johnson recalls
pleasant memories throughout their marriage in spite of re-occurring power
struggles with each other.
"Sometimes I adored Kathie Lee. Sometimes I wanted to strangle her," Johnson
recalls. "But I was always committed to our life together and I was never
unfaithful to her."
But in between the good memories there was trouble in paradise that only seemed
to get worse over time.
"With every new success Kathie Lee became more full of herself," explained
Paul. "And she wanted ALL of my attention, ALL of the time. Her eternal nagging
made it hard for me to concentrate on my work."
On stage, Kathie Lee would often humiliate her husband who would be standing
behind her conducting the orchestra. "She made me the fall guy for all her
jokes. I tried to be a good sport about it. I'd pretend to laugh but inside I
was dying."
Kathie Lee never cheated on her husband, but according to Johnson she was a
calculating flirt.
"She would come on to older men right in front of me. If they were rich and
powerful, or had connections in show business she would slobber all over them."
"One time in Las Vegas she almost made me late for a show because of this
disgusting behavior. I was conducting at the Riviera Hotel. Kathie Lee flew in
for the weekend. When I went to pick her up at the airport she was hanging all
over Liberace's manager and Kathie insisted I give him a ride to his hotel."
"I only had a few minutes to make my show but Kathie Lee could care less. All
she cared about was impressing this guy. I was livid as I drove back and she
kept whispering in my ear, 'He'll be great for you career, honey.' What she
really meant was, 'He'll be great for my career, honey.' "
Kathie Lee's extreme jealousy drove Paul crazy. One day she dropped by the
studio while he was recording a jingle session. She threw a temper tantrum,
because he hadn't hired her, and walked out of the studio, slamming the door
behind.
"I couldn't hire her," explains Johnson. "She can't read music.
"Another time I remember playing for her a tape of some new songs I'd written.
I was happy and excited about them -- but Kathie Lee burst into tears.
" 'I don't want you to have any happiness in life unless it comes from me,' she
shouted.
"She used her tears and tirades to get her way."
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' I was concerned about having kids . . . I was afraid she'd use them for
showbiz opportunities '
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Some of the conflict appeared to get resolved when Kathie Lee landed her first
big TV show, "Name That Tune."
"That year turned out to be the best year of our married life together. She had
her show. I had my studio work. The marriage was starting to harmonize.
"We moved into a beautiful new home and threw lots of great parties. We had a
lot of fun together that year. And I loved her having an identity of her own."
But the good times didn't last forever. Kathie Lee became extremely
competitive. "We couldn't even watch a TV show without her saying, 'I should
have been that Charlie's Angel. I should have gotten that part.'
"Sometimes when Kathie Lee didn't get what she wanted she would pout for days
and punish everyone around her. Kathie Lee can pout louder than anybody I know.
"It wasn't pleasant to be around her at times like that. I would try to tease
her out of these dark moods but that only seemed to tick her off more."
One time Paul was working on developing a TV project at MGM. Kathie Lee wasn't
the least bit happy for him since the project didn't include her. "I'm the one
in the family who is supposed to be on TV -- not you!" she snipped at her
husband.
"She even had her manager call my producer behind my back -- wanting her to
host the show. I wondered, how on earth is this marriage going to work when she
behaves like this?
"It is exhausting living with someone so absorbed with themself. Kathie Lee
lives as if the cameras are rolling 24 hours a day. She's always 'ready for her
close-up' ", reveals her ex-husband.
"She truly believes the world revolves around her."
Johnson has worked as musical director with a lot of celebrities in his career,
conducting Hollywood tribute shows to Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Clint
Eastwood, Bette Davis, Gregory Peck, Lauren Bacall and a host of others. But
Johnson confesses he's never worked with anyone in show business with an ego
the size of Kathie Lee's.
"One night we were lying in bed discussing our plans during the Christmas
season. She mentioned a party she wanted to attend and needed me there to play
the piano for her.
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' Sometimes I adored her. . . sometimes I wanted to strangle her '
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"I said, 'Honey, you know I can't go that night.' I have a commitment I can't
break.' She said, 'Fine. I'll find somebody else. I don't need you anymore
anyway. I'm going to be a star without you!'
"Kathie Lee has a ruthless nature behind the 'Mary Poppins' mask she wears for
the public. I always found that 'Joan Crawford' was hiding under the surface.
Johnson recounts, "Kathie Lee used baby-talk to try to manipulate him. She
called her thighs her 'wuggies.' Her private parts were her 'binkie.' Poop was
'buppies.' And her name for me was 'Munckin Man.' I'd try to have an adult
conversation and I'd get 'buppies.' I had hoped for an adult, sensual,
red-blooded relationship with a mature woman -- not 'Dorothy' from the Wizard
of Oz!"
In her 1992 autobiography, the famous mother of Cody and Cassidy chides her
first husband for not wanting to have children. "That's just not true," says
Johnson. "But I was concerned about having kids with Kathie Lee! I was afraid
she would use them for show-biz photo opportunities just like she does today."
During the marriage Paul worked hard to boost Kathie Lee's singing career. "I
arranged and produced two solo albums for Kathie Lee and one duet album with
her sister. I busted my tail on these projects to give her the very best. And I
wrote and conducted her concerts from Palm Springs to Puerto Rico. She was
happy as long as I was traveling with her and taking care of all the details of
her career."
Johnson laughs when he reads in her book how she gave up her career for him to
"stay home and vacuum."
"When she landed a TV commercial for Lysol for which she actually had to wash a
bathroom basin, our maid teased her and said, 'Ms. Kathie, I'm the one who
should have gotten that commercial!'
"Toward the end of the marriage, we went out to dinner with my folks and her
folks. I said to both sets of parents, 'We're having problems. We need your
help.'
"My folks encourage us to get professional help, but Kathie chimed in and said,
'The only way this marriage will be saved is if Paul gives up his career and
travels with me.'
"My mom, who is normally silent, said, 'Kathie, I think you've finally admitted
why you married Paul in the first place.'
"My family adored Kathie Lee in the beginning," Johnson reminisces. "My Dad
actually financed her solo albums. Both families got along beautifully."
But over time Paul's family really grew disgusted with Kathie Lee's
self-absorbed behavior.
One Thanksgiving dinner Kathie Lee drove Paul's family nuts, talking about
herself and her career non-stop. "I kept nudging her under the table to shut
up. But with every sip of wine she just chattered louder and faster. Every year
we give a toast to the 'Thanksgiving from Hell!'
"The last time my folks came to visit us in California they couldn't stand to
be around Kathie Lee. My mom even called a relative to come pick her up and
take her away from the madness while dad and I were at the studio.
"Both my folks got a taste of what I had to put up with at home and my whole
family was very glad to see this marriage end when it finally did.
"Kathie Lee and I had our last big fight in Hawaii. The issues were always the
same -- her career and me not paying her enough attention.
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' I had to leave for my sanity's sake '
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That night she said she wanted a separation and got on a plane the next morning
and flew back to LA by herself."
When Paul returned home, he walked in on Kathie Lee while she was applying pink
nail polish to her toes.
"She didn't look up at first when I came into the bedroom crying. I told her I
had to leave for my sanity's sake. We hugged and I left without packing a bag
or taking a toothbrush or anything. It was the saddest day of my life. I
couldn't believe it had come to this."
In "I Can't Believe I Said That," Kathie Lee spins the story in another
direction. She claims that Paul raided the house and left her.
"When I read that I wanted to puke!" declared Paul. "Kathie Lee never lets the
truth get in the way of a good story."
He says Kathie Lee promised him that her autobiography would be an
inspirational book that would not exploit their marriage.
But Johnson was mortified when he bought the book and read it. She claims he
fizzled as a lover and she was so disappointed, "I could have had a satisfying
sexual experience with Godzilla at that time of my life".
Said Johnson: "Kathie just wants to annul our marriage from beginning to end.
It wasn't the loveless marriage she paints. It was turbulent."
Most perplexing to Johnson is this line from Kathie Lee's book: "I came to my
career by default because I wasn't getting much applause at home and went
elsewhere to get it."
"Evidently all the years I invested in Kathie Lee's life and career don't
matter to her at all," Johnson surmises. " I wasn't expecting a thank you note,
but I didn't expect this! I don't know what 'applause' she was missing. I guess
I just forgot to clap!"
Send all email to PUSSS...@aol.com
Ziggy63442
>From: agcg...@aol.comBillie (AGC Gossip)
>Date: 4/20/99 10:20 AM Eastern
"Kathie Lee has a ruthless nature behind the 'Mary Poppins' mask she wears for
the public. I always found that 'Joan Crawford' was hiding under the surface.
Wow Billie that was some piece from the Enquirer. If he (her ex husband) is
telling the truth....I wonder if anyone else will come out
and "tell all" about sweet Kathie....
Ziggy
baldwi...@gmail.com
Miloch
baldwi...@gmail.com says...
>I can see a narcisstic prrson in kathy lee
Wonder if she does anal?
...anyone know?
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swedes...@gmail.com
emmabro...@gmail.com
Miloch
emmabro...@gmail.com says...
>She is a selfish and self centered b_tch. So glad she is leaving the show
her sphincter?....loosey goosey or nice 'n tight!?
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