Kelly Ripa responds to backlash after saying her son is living in ‘extreme poverty’ in Brooklyn

The talk show host responded to an Instagram comment and called detractors 'a pack of fools' 
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Margaret Abrams25 October 2019

Kelly Ripa appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and joked that her son, Michael Consuelos, is living in "extreme poverty" in Brooklyn now that he must pay his own rent.

At the time, Kimmel was filming in Brooklyn. He said, “Your son lives in Brooklyn now,” to which Ripa responded, “He lives in Bushwick.” Bushwick is a Brooklyn neighborhood with a hipster reputation in the process of gentrification.

The talk show host said, “I think he loves the freedom, he hates paying his own rent and he is chronically poor. I don’t think he ever really experienced extreme poverty like now.”

She went on to share a story about how for years her parents sent him $20 on Halloween and he never appreciated it - but now he’s called three times to see if the Halloween envelope has arrived and is going to take the subway to get it.

Her comments were met with a backlash, with people responding on Twitter and Instagram and calling her out as she makes a reported $20 million a year on Live With Kelly and Ryan.

Ripa, 49, has responded by saying the people insulting her are a “pack of fools.”

In an Instagram comment on the above post that asks "Did Michael drop out of school?" on a picture of her with her son, she responded, "Michael goes to college and is a senior and works full time. He is in his first non parent subsidized apt with roommates,” she wrote. “I’m used to getting a lot of slack because people love to have fake outrage over something they didn’t see. They only read a headline and wag their tired fingers."

She went on to say, "I didn’t grow up privileged and neither did @instasuelos," tagging her husband, Riverdale actor Mark Consuelos. “We work and we expect our kids to as well. And the fact that a pack of fools want to b***h about that, I say let em.”

Her son is currently a senior at New York University, which costs $53,000 a year - plus room and board - but since he's living in Bushwick they don't have to worry about the extra $18,624 a year for student housing.

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