The TV personality also brought up her late husband Frank's infidelity when addressing the sexual misconduct allegations against Lauer.
Kathie Lee Gifford had a spirit of forgiveness upon reacting to the news that her longtime colleague, Matt Lauer, had been fired from the Today show.
On Wednesday morning, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb emotionally announced at the top the morning show that Lauer -- who started on Today in 1994 -- was let go from NBC after allegations of "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace."
During the last hour of Today, the 64-year-old TV personality admitted that she was still "grappling" with Lauer's termination, and started to compare it to when news broke in 1997 that her husband, Frank Gifford, had cheated on her.
"I don't feel that Matt has betrayed us," Gifford said. "When I found out my husband had betrayed me, you question your own judgment. 'Was everything a lie?' I think we have to fight against that."
She went on to talk about her late husband, who died in 2015, and how she learned from that difficult time in their marriage.
"There is no bad time. There was a wonderful man who was an adviser to me and Frank through my lifetime and I was upset and hurt, like I'm sure Matt's family is," she said. "He said, 'If you can't forgive your husband, forgive your children's father.' The same person, that's the one you love."
Gifford also admitted that she reached out to Lauer, 59, upon hearing of his termination. "I texted him this morning and I said, 'I adore you,'" she shared. "No one is perfect in this world. We need now is forgiveness and mercy for one another."
She then showed support for his family and the woman who is accusing Lauer of sexual misconduct. "I send out my love to the person who came forward. May God heal that person," she began. "I send it to Matt his children and his wife and heal."
Gifford concluded, "We're broken and we need someone to put us back together. It is so possible, I am living proof of it. I didn't mean to go to church but sometimes, you gotta go to church."
After emotionally breaking the news earlier in the morning with Guthrie, Kotb further opened up to Gifford about how she was feeling about the allegations against Lauer. "The processing is gonna take a lot of time and it's that feeling we were talking about and I think everyone home has felt this way," she noted. "You think, 'What? How does that make sense?' You can't figure it out overnight."
Lauer's firing comes one week after Charlie Rose was terminated from CBS This Morning after eight women came forward alleging that they were sexually harassed by the 75-year-old newsman while working on his PBS show. CBS later reported that three women who worked at the network also accused Rose of sexual misconduct.
Here's how co-anchors Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell reported on those allegations:
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