How Kelly Ripa Really Feels About Michael Strahan Leaving Live!

Kelly Ripa hasn't been exactly quiet about the behind-the-scenes drama that unfolded at Live! With Kelly And Michael after Michael Strahan announced he was leaving the show. She has even discussed it on air. But, in a new interview with People magazine, Ripa's telling the story from her perspective. Speaking with People, Ripa does not attack her bosses who failed to inform her of Strahan's departure. In fact, she suggests that the "oversight" may have been due to their familiarity. "Sometimes when you are so comfortable with somebody, you may not give them the same consideration as somebody you're not as comfortable with — a certain formality falls away," she explains. Ripa, however, refuses to be taken for granted. "I'm not dealing with monsters. I don't think of anybody as a monster or out to get me. But sometimes stability and dependability can be misinterpreted as passive. Like, 'Oh, we don't have to worry about her, she's fine. She's fine,'" Ripa tells People. "And I am fine, but I need assurances that we're all going to be fine." Following Strahan's announcement, Ripa was portrayed in the press as bratty or diva-like, an unfair characterization. Ripa now puts it simply: "I think that all people are deserving of fair treatment in the work place. People deserve respect," she says in People. "People should be treated equally and with dignity." Strahan's last show is Friday.