Kathie Lee Gifford recalls insult from ‘Charlie’s Angels’ casting agent

Kathie Lee Gifford remembered how she was insulted while auditioning for Charlie’s Angels, and how she laughed it off.

Gifford recalled the incident when she was bluntly slammed for not being “pretty” enough to star in the ABC’s television series while talking to People about her new book, I Want to Matter: Your Life Is Too Short and Too Precious to Waste.

In the book, the former Today TV host uses the incident as an example to write about the power of forgiveness and kindness, about how she was instantly given a no as she arrived at the casting office for an interview, and how she let it go.

“She goes, ‘Let me tell you right now, you’re not right for Charlie’s Angels,'” Gifford said.

When she asked why, the agent said straight-forwardly, “Because we’re looking for a pretty girl. You know, like Jaclyn Smith: pretty, gorgeous, gorgeous.”

At first, the comments left Gifford stunned, but then she braced herself with a comeback.

“I said, ‘When you’re casting a cartoon,’ and I threw up my leg. ‘When you’re casting a cartoon, let me know.’ I left, thanking God that I could laugh about it.”

“I started to see, first of all, what a b*tch she was. What an unnecessary bitch she was,” she reflected further about the incident.

“She didn’t say ‘Sorry, honey, have a nice life. You’re not what we’re looking for.’ She had to be cruel. She had to be the exact opposite of what my dad taught me to be. The fact that I remember her name to this day is because she was so cruel.”