Rosie O’Donnell, television’s gay watchdog, found the remark Kelly Ripa made on air last Friday morning a homophobic slur and “a little odd.” After guest co-host Clay Aiken clapped his hand across Ripa’s mouth to stop her talking, Ripa told him, “Oh, that’s a no-no. I don’t know where that hand’s been, honey!” (We didn’t see the show, but we like to think she followed “honey” with a loud snap.) On The View, which we hear she’s commandeered, O’Donnell said, “To me that’s a homophobic remark. If that was a straight man, if that was a cute man, if that was a guy that she didn’t question his sexuality, she would have said a different thing.”

Ripa responded to The View via phone. “He reached across and covered my mouth with his hand,” she explained. “I have three kids [and] he’s shaking hands with everybody in the audience. It’s cold and flu season. That’s what I meant, and to imply that it’s homophobic is outrageous, Rosie. And you know better. You should be more responsible.”

Rosie said she was just sayin’.

Whatever. The gesture of reaching over and covering someone’s mouth to shut them up is sweeping the nation like “happy slapping” and, as a celebrity haha, may last long enough to be a presenter crowd-pleaser at the Oscars. (Source)