Ricki Lake reveals the life-changing event that made her QUIT her iconic talk show: ‘I was so freaked out’

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Ricki Lake believes the September 11th attacks had a significant effect that eventually caused her talk show to be cancelled.

The 57-year-old actress shared on the On Par with Maury Povich podcast how seeing the 9/11 attacks firsthand deeply affected both her personal life and her career.

As someone who lived in the West Village at the time, 9/11 was a truly defining moment for me. It wasn’t just a national tragedy; it completely altered the course of my life. I remember watching everything unfold from my apartment, and honestly, every single aspect of how I lived changed from that day forward. It really was a pivotal shift in my personal trajectory.

The Emmy-winning TV host said she no longer felt safe living in New York City, where her show was filmed.

Lake explained that she decided to end her show in 2004 after it had run for 11 seasons, even though she felt it could have continued for another ten years.

I remember listening to Lake describe what she saw on that terrible day – it was heartbreaking. She shared her firsthand account of witnessing the tragedy that took almost 3,000 lives, and it really stayed with me. It was a powerful and incredibly sad story.

‘I was so freaked out watching that plane fly down the Hudson and hit that building,’ said Lake.

Explaining her decision to leave the city to 87-year-old Larry King, Lisa Lake spoke about her sons, Milo Sussman, 29, and Owen Sussman, 24.

Lake explained that she had a very young family, with a two-month-old baby and a four-year-old child. She described feeling fiercely protective of them, like any new mother nursing her babies.

‘I mean, I just felt like the world was coming to an end that day.’

Watching everything from the roof of my building, I suddenly realized I needed to leave New York. That’s when I decided to move.

Lake said that she was 33 when she decided to make a series of changes to her life.

She said she considered quitting her job and getting a divorce, which ultimately happened in 2004 after she and Rob Sussman, now 60, separated in 2003.

She continued, ‘It took a lot of planning. It took a couple years to finish my contract.

I couldn’t leave my show mid-run, but I’d decided not to continue past the current season.

After that, she moved to California and shifted her focus to documentary filmmaking, preferring to work behind the camera.

Lake shared with Povich that she feels good about the impact her daytime TV work had throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

She described the show as a huge success, explaining that it sparked important conversations among young people.

Lake explained that her program gave a voice to people who hadn’t previously been heard on television.

‘I mean, I think there’s a lot of good that came out of our show,’ Lake said.

Before becoming a daytime TV star, Lake appeared in John Waters films like ‘Hairspray’ (1988) and ‘Cry-Baby’ (1990).

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2026-04-29 04:07