Good Morning America

Kelly Ripa is alienating lots of people on 'Live,' because they believe she's jeopardizing their jobs by refusing to work.

Production sources tell us, some members of the crew believe ABC execs are weighing the benefits of either killing the show or moving it to a later hour so they can add a third hour of 'GMA.'

These crew members are grousing, the longer Kelly stays out, the more damage it will do to 'Live' and the greater the chance that they'll be replaced by 'GMA.' If 'Live' goes away, so do they.

That said, we're told the crew generally likes Kelly, but many of them think what they call "her tantrum" is hurting the show.

Oprah Winfrey was shocked that Kelly Ripa was blindsided by the big announcement Michael Strahan's leaving her, and the queen thinks it's just plain wrong.

Oprah didn't know the details, so our photog clued her in Wednesday at the premiere of her OWN drama "Greenleaf" at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

Kelly Ripa is livid over Michael Strahan's departure from her show, largely because she was shockingly disrespected by Disney honchos.

TMZ broke the story ... Kelly was blindsided by Tuesday's announcement. She found out at 10:30 in the morning ... the same time Disney made the announcement. She never got a call from Disney CEO Bob Iger or anyone else at the Mouse House.

Our ABC sources say Kelly -- and virtually everyone on her show -- feels Disney has screamed to the world they don't care about 'Live' ... their singular focus is breathing life into 'GMA,' which has lost a big chunk of its audience over the last year.

We're told there's serious talk about giving 'Live' the boot at 9 AM and adding a third hour to 'GMA.' It's unclear if Disney is eyeing a time slot later in the morning for Kelly's show. It's pretty incredible, since 'Live' has been super successful on Kelly's watch.

Adding a 3rd hour to 'GMA' is the logical next move, since Strahan has established himself in the 9 AM time slot.

As for Kelly, it's unclear if Disney can ever win her back. It's not difficult to understand how pissed she is ... it's like the Ann Curry/NBC mess, but more outrageous.

Will Smith will spend Oscar night with his wife Jada Pinkett Smith and not at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Will went on "Good Morning America" to talk about The Oscars, the lack of black nominees, and Jada's stance that black filmmakers should stop begging white Hollywood for acceptance.

As for why he won't be at the award show, he said it feels "uncomfortable to stand there and say that this is ok."

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Spike Lee has already said he's skipping the show and there have been calls from some African-American stars for Chris Rock to step down as host.

Spike Lee says Hollywood needs to take its cue from the NFL -- forcing studios to institute a "Rooney Rule" ... requiring studios to greenlight a certain number of movies featuring minorities.

Lee was on 'GMA' Wednesday morning when he said the problem with the Oscars is deeper than who gets nominated -- it's the fact black movies and black actors aren't getting the opportunities in the Hollywood boardrooms.

That's why Lee wants a "Rooney Rule" -- an NFL policy that requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for head coaching and minority jobs.

Lee feels that someone needs to force Hollywood to hit a mandatory quota when it comes to making minority films.

Watch the clip ... seems Michael Strahan is down to play the role of enforcer.

Spike Lee has corrected the media for reporting he was calling for an Oscar boycott.

Spike appeared on 'GMA' and made it clear ... blasting the Academy for shutting out black actors and films and vowing not to attend the ceremony is NOT the same as calling for a boycott.

Lee said he and his wife would be at the Knicks game at Madison Square Garden the night of the Oscars, and everyone else can either attend or not ... not his business.

There were lots of reports Jada Pinkett Smith also called for a boycott, which she did not. She said it's time for African Americans to stop begging the Academy for acceptance and do their own thing in their own community.

As for Chris Rock, Spike's making no judgment on whether he should still host.

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Nicki Minaj went on TV to tell the world ... Taylor Swift screwed up when she assumed Nicki was attacking her over the VMA noms.

Nicki went on 'GMA' and revealed she and Taylor had a chat yesterday and Swifty admitted she was wrong when she went after Nicki on Twitter, jumping to the conclusion that Nicki was ragging on her over "Anaconda" being passed on for video of the year.

Joan Rivers suffered from heart arrhythmia and worried that her heart might stop beating on stage or during surgery.

Joan spoke about the condition -- which causes sudden irregularities in the heart beat -- during an interview with Joan Lunden on Good Morning America back in 1985.

Joan said, "It scares the hell out of you. And when you go under, say for plastic surgeries and things like that ... that's when your heart can go out of kilter."

Robin Roberts was the target of a man who threatened to punch her in the face for not paying a debt ... and now he's behind bars.

43-year-old Troy Warren was arrested Monday after showing up at the GMA studio eight times between June 10 and June 24. A security officer told NYPD ... Warren threatened to punch Robin in the face because she owed him money.

Warren has been charged with misdemeanor stalking and harassment.

A homeless man went to ABC studios in NYC Tuesday with a knife and threatened to kill Michael Strahan ... NYPD officials confirm to TMZ.

Andre Johnson appeared Tuesday AM at the Times Square studio where "Good Morning America" is shot. The 25-year-old man showed up at around 8:00 AM ... when the cast often walks out onto the sidewalk set to interact with onlookers.

Police say Johnson got into an argument with security, pulled a knife and said he was there to kill Strahan -- who makes appearances on "GMA" in addition to hosting "LIVE! With Kelly and Michael."

A cop working security then subdued Johnson and secured the knife.

The NY Post -- which broke the story -- says the man was charged with felony attempted assault as well as menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. It appears he's being held without bail.

TMZ caught up with Strahan's fiancee, Nicole Murphy, at LAX to talk about the incident.

Robin Roberts picked up some unexpected side-effects -- good and bad -- when she got a life-saving bone marrow transplant 2 years ago ... and says it's all her sister's fault.

Robin's sis Sally-Ann donated the bone marrow to help Robin treat a rare blood disorder.

The transplant gave Robin a fresh infusion of stem cells ... but Wednesday in NYC -- she told us she also inherited some of her sister's physical traits.

"Good Morning America" promoted Lara Spencer to co-host and then BURIED the announcement -- presumably to keep some pretty fragile GMA egos in check.

ABC honchos sent an internal memo around to the staff bragging about how GMA has kicked the "Today" show's ass for 2 straight years. The memo -- which was obtained by Page Six -- starts out by calling Robin Roberts "the captain of our team"

In PARAGRAPH 6 the memo essentially says, "Oh, by the way, Lara's a co-anchor now."

And get this ... to make sure the announcement got buried, it was sent to the staff on Good Friday.

Now for some translation ... Lara made lots of demands when her contract was renegotiated recently ... she thinks of herself as Robin's fill-in. She also can't stand Amy Robach -- even though they told TMZ they love each other -- and when Amy got promoted to news anchor apparently GMA felt it needed to up Lara's title to keep her happy.

As for why the announcement was made on Good Friday, well ... people on the staff say Robin can be quite a diva, and GMA didn't want to ruffle her feathers.

The rise of "Stat Boy" continues -- Tony Reali has just been called up to NYC where the host of ESPN's "Around the Horn" will now be featured on "Good Morning America."

Reali -- who started off as the research guy on "Pardon the Interruption" -- has signed a new gig to cover social media on "GMA."

To accommodate his new job, "Around the Horn" will move from from Washington D.C. to NYC ... where it will be taped in a new studio close to the "GMA" building.

"Good Morning America" anchors Lara Spencer and Amy Robach love each other so much, they can't keep their hands off each other ... or so they say.

We got Amy and Lara leaving lunch in NYC Saturday and they poo poo'ed our story that they hate each other, even suggesting sexism.

TMZ reported ... multiple sources connected with GMA say the women despise each other. Nevertheless, Lara and Amy insist -- REALLY INSIST -- that they're the best of buds.

Michael Strahan is joining "Good Morning America" on the heels of Josh Elliott's departure ... TMZ has confirmed.

ABC sources tell TMZ Strahan will appear during the 7:00 hour of GMA ... 3 to 4 times a week. He'll be a utility player ... features, lifestyle, sports ... pretty much anything.

GMA is in trouble ... Josh Elliott's departure for NBC Sunday was bitter. Sam Champion is gone. Lara Spencer and Amy Robach hate each other.

Not to mention ... Josh's departure makes little George Stephanopoulos look lost in the land of Amazons. Dude needs a testosterone-assist which Strahan provides.

GMA is a $300 million a year cash cow for ABC and it's in danger of losing ground fast.

Josh Elliott was so disgusted with ABC ... he took a pay cut of more than a million dollars ... multiple sources connected with both ABC and NBC tell TMZ.

Our sources say ABC offered Josh between $4 and $5 million to stay, but he chose NBC despite the fact that they offered him just over $3 million.

We're told Josh was at the point of no return when Robin Roberts signed a $14 million a year contract to anchor GMA. He felt slighted by the ABC offer and just wanted out.

Sources say the feeling is mutual. As one source put it, "He's definitely an abrasive guy." Another source says, "People hated him. He was always just rude."

And get this ... we're told just weeks ago Sr. VP of ABC News James Goldston confronted Amy Robach -- Josh's replacement on GMA -- and called her "toxic" because she created tension on the set. Indeed, we're told Amy and Lara Spencer "hate" each other and can't hide their contempt.

Another source says Robin Roberts hasn't helped matters -- one person saying she acts like a "diva" on the set.

As for Josh's future ... our network sources say NBC did NOT promise Josh any role on "Today," but we're told there's no doubt he's got to the top of the heap as the likely successor to Matt Lauer.