Regis Philbin stunned everyone this week when he announced his retirement after this year. Included as stunned people was the entire crew Live with Regis and Kelly, especially Kelly. As first reported, Kelly was stunned but understood that Regis wanted to retire. Now, TMZ has gotten word that Ripa was furious when Regis decided to tell her about his retirement 15 minutes before the show started.
I can see how she may have felt disrepected and I think that he should have given her more time. But when it comes to a man and his retirement, it is a milestone and it is really not about anyone else but him. With that said, if I believed Regis was going to be out of the game for good I would be on his side, but that is not the case.
It was reported today that the reason Regis cried retirement is because of the network informing him and his agent that they would be cutting his salary after the current contract is up, which was…ding ding ding…the end of this year. The network claimed that Regis has missed a lot of work (true) and the ratings weren’t where they were expected to be (also true). Regis apparently outraged at the thought of a salary cut and chose to exit the show rather than be paid less.
The best part about that situation? Regis was getting paid between $18-$20 million. Although very unlikely, he could have taken a 50% paycut and STILL have been making between $9-$10 MILLION. I know the guy has been around for a long time and he is a staple on the idiot box, but to fret over taking a pay cut when you are already making that much money? It’s kind of douchey. Reeg also swung the ax at his agent, Jim Griffin, because he did not negotiate the upcoming contract to his liking. Boy, I bet Jimbo is going to miss that commission.
So now Regis Philbin has retired under false pretenses because it seems as though he would have returned had the money been right. Which begs the question, at least in my mind; If the money IS right, will he be back on the tube again? I would say yes, definitely. There was no indiaction prior to the announcement that he was going to leave or getting ready to retire. If Regis does decide to come back, he should consult with Brett Favre who has retired about 4 times more than Regis. He is a pro, basically.
