Starr walks out on 'Regis and Kelly'

NEW YORK Starr walked off the set rather than cut down one of his songs in a performance with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. Starr's publicist, Elizabeth Freund, says she was told yesterday morning he had to cut his song from 4 minutes and 15 seconds to less than 3 minutes. He managed to cut it to 3 and a half minutes, and Freund says Starr offered to cut back his chat time.

She says Starr left saying, "God bless and goodbye. We still love Regis." The "Regis and Kelly" spokeswoman, who declined to be named, says Starr's song was almost 5 minutes. She also says Starr had been booked since November and that Starr's representatives had agreed to the time requirement for the song. She says the show would absolutely welcome Starr back.

Stewart says the producers of "Regis and Kelly" "apparently felt Ringo's musical legacy should take a back seat to additional banter about the size of Ms. (Kelly) Ripa's derriere." Starr did manage to tape a segment yesterday for "Rachael Ray" in which he was able to play the entire song.