Kathie Lee Gifford may have just made one of the worst mistakes in journalistic history…

Every blogger, journalist, and TV host has one major job, and that’s to know the facts before you interview someone. You can’t possibly know everything there is to know about someone before you sit down to chat, but the basics are pretty easy to come by. Kathie Lee has been hosting shows for years, but on her part of the Today Show, the seasoned vet appeared a noob when she went on and on about Martin Short’s wife with him. The problem? Short’s wife passed away two years ago.

Martin Short was on the show to promote Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted. The talk of course took a personal turn, as most do, when Kathie started to inquire about Short’s wife Nancy Dolman. What Kathie obviously didn’t know before the cascade of questions was that Dolman lost her battle with ovarian cancer in 2010.

Kathie asked, “You and Nancy have one of the greatest marriages of anybody in show business. How many years now for you guys?”

Short gave a short, “We…married 36 years.”

To make things even more awkward, Kathie went on, “But you’re still in love!”  Short, again keeping it brief, replied, “Madly in love.”

One last “definitely making The Soup” moment, Kathie asked, “Why?” With a quick shrug of the shoulders, Short said, “Cute. I’m cute.”

It wasn’t brought to Kathie’s attention that she made a huge mistake until it was all over and done. She took to Twitter to apologize to Short, “I send my sincerest apologies to @MartinShort and his family,” she wrote. “He handled situation w/enormous grace and kindness and I’m so grateful.”

Short hasn’t talked about the uncomfortable situation yet, but his reps emailed to say, “Marty never even addressed it with us, he just moved right along. We appreciate if everyone else might do the same so as not to make a huge deal about it either.”

Dear Kathie Lee, you need to take a wine break and get the facts straight to avoid that happening ever again.