Kathie Lee Gifford Says Bill Cosby Tried to Kiss her

During a recent episode of "Today," former "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" co-host Kathie Lee Gifford revealed that Bill Cosby tried to kiss her at one point during their friendship.

E! News notes that Gifford and Cosby, who has been accused of raping and assaulting over two dozen women, formed a very close friendship with the comedian while she toured with him in the '70s.

Despite their friendship, Gifford confessed on "Today" that Cosby came on to her romantically and tried to kiss her. But once she objected to the kiss, Cosby backed down, she insisted.

"I, along with so many Americans and people around the world, don't want these [accusations] to be true," Gifford said on "Today." "I will admit towards the very, very end of the last time I saw him, he did try to kiss me."

Gifford explained that she said, "No, Bill, no, we're friends," when he tried to kiss her, to which Cosby replied, "'OK, good night,' and I said, 'Good night,' and I went into my room, and he went into his room."

"I'm not saying the women's allegations are not true. I'm just saying I never personally saw it with my own two eyes," Gifford continued.

Prior to her confession on "Today," Gifford publicly defended Cosby amid the rape allegations in a recent interview with People, explaining that she "personally never saw him treat a woman the way it's been alleged, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen -- I never saw it."

However, Gifford later suggest on "Today" that she was bothered by top model Beverly Johnson's detailed story about Cosby allegedly drugging her by way of a spiked cappuccino drink, Us Weekly reports.

"I do know, I got a chill, because every night when we'd come off stage and Bill would be going onstage, he would have made cappuccinos for all three of us," Gifford recalled on "Today." "I always thought it was such a kindness and so sweet, and now you see Beverly Johnson saying that he made a cappuccino or something for her, and I just don't want it to be true."

So far, Cosby has yet to respond to Gifford's recent story about his attempted kiss. However, Cosby recently spoke out against the "black media's" portrayal of his public image amid the rape allegations.

Cosby urged the members of black media to "uphold the standards of excellence in journalism and when you do that you have to go in with a neutral mind," the New York Post reports.

Cosby's wife, Camille also defended him via a statement obtained by E! News, describing the actor/comedian as a "kind man, a generous man, a funny man, and a wonderful husband, father and friend. He is the man you thought you knew."