Jenna Bush Hager Claims NBC Banned Her from Using 1 Phrase on theTodayShow

Mar. 15, 2025

Jenna Bush Hager.Photo:Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

TheTodayhosts are revealing the rules they follow on-air.

On the Dec. 2 episode ofToday with Hoda & Jenna,Hoda KotbandJenna Bush Hagersharedhow they had to changewhen they joined NBC. Bush Hager, who started as a correspondent in 2009, claimed there was one phrase the network banned her from using at the time.

“[They were like], ‘Hey, y’all,’ isn’t for the whole country,’” she alleged. “And I was like, ‘Well, but it’s who I am.’ It’s so weird, and this happens in life too. If you have friends and then, all of a sudden, you’re acting not who you are, and you’re like, ‘Wait,’ something in your gut feels wrong.”

“When they said, ‘You can’t say y’all,’ in my gut, I was like, ‘But why? We have to pretend to be news people?’” Bush Hager claimed. “Because whenever you pretend to be a news person, I felt like I was acting. And we all know from [ourTitanicHalloween skit], I’m not a great actor. When you try to pretend you’re somebody else, it feels crazy.”

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager.Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty

Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty

The rules to work in news allegedly extended to their looks, too. Kotb claimed it felt like they were being told, “Welcome in, but you have to change.”

“If you don’t fit, they want you to wear something a certain way, cut your hair a certain way, speak a certain way,” she alleged, referring to being an on-air broadcaster.

She went on to explain that she and Bush Hager later let go of the pressure to put on that front, which can make someone feel like they are “losing who you are.” Still, she said it took “a long time.”

“It took me longer than, I think, it took you,” Kotb, who has been with NBC since 1998 when she was aDatelinecorrespondent, said to Bush Hager.

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager.Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

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“I had my kiddos later in life and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have,” she explained. “I feel like we only have a finite amount of time. And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world.”

“I’m gonna be here through the first of the year — past the first of the year — and I’m gonna stay in the NBC family, but it’s kind of a big deal for me,” she continued through tears.

Bush Hager then made everyone laugh as she said, “It’s not over. I’m gonna be showing up at your house, like the stalker you are toZac Brown. I’m gonna be there on your doorstep. And we are your friends forever.”

source: people.com