Kelly Ripa Says to ‘Get a Life’ After Getting ‘Hate’ for Her Take on Thanksgiving Stuffing Versus Dressing

"If you're worried about this, then congratulations, you don't have actual problems," the TV host said on 'Live with Kelly and Mark'

Are the herb, onion and butter-flavored bread pieces at the Thanksgiving table called stuffing? Or dressing?

Kelly Ripa doesn't care.

On Monday, Nov. 25, the Live with Kelly and Mark co-host sparked a discussion of what the classic Thanksgiving dish should be called, as different regions of the country used different terms. The discussion then set off a polarizing, apparently heated argument online.

Ripa addressed the "hate" over the conversation on Nov. 26.

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"I mean, forget any political discourse," Ripa said on the show. "The real discourse are the people arguing about stuffing and dressing."

Broadly, most Americans call the dish "stuffing," but in the South, it's commonly referred to as "dressing" — not to mention in Pennsylvania, it's sometimes called "filling."

Some claim the difference is in how the dish is prepared — inside the turkey itself or on its own. HuffPost reported another possible reason for the difference in terminology — "the Victorians deemed stuffing to be too crude for the dish to be named."

But to Ripa, the issue just wasn't that deep, especially for the amount of hate she received on social media.

"Basically, I'm going to say something: Get a life, honestly. Just get one. Calm down," she said. "If you're worried about this, then congratulations, you don't have actual problems."

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Ripa and her husband and co-host Mark Consuelos brought in actress Scarlett Johansson to weigh in on the issue.

"What I understand is dressing is kind of Southern. It's stuffing, but they call it dressing?" Johansson said.

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"We said that yesterday! But we got hate!" Consuelos said. "Stuffing is what goes inside the turkey. If it doesn't go inside the turkey, if it's on the side, it's dressing."

"According to some on the internet," Ripa added, "who have a lot of time on their hands."

During her visit to the show, Johansson shared her own Thanksgiving plans this year, revealing that she and Colin Jost will be spending the holiday at a restaurant for the first time.

“We’ve not really done that before,” the Black Widow star said. “Every year I feel like it’s me and my father-in-law and we’re both doing dishes for half the thing. And I don’t want anybody to feel obligated to have to clean up.” 

The actress added, “I feel very fortunate we’re able to go to a restaurant and enjoy.”