Jenna Bush Hager left speechless on Today show as co-host Al Roker jokingly calls her ‘big’
The Today show’s Al Roker has sparked outrage over his controversial nickname for co-host Jenna Bush Hager.
The 72-year-old caused quite the stir among his colleagues after making a seemingly clumsy comment about Hager’s outfit.
The misunderstanding was brought up during Thursday’s episode of Today with Jenna & Sheinelle.
Referencing Tuesday’s show, Hager, 44, recalled: ‘Earlier this week when I was wearing red and I walked onto the set and Al goes, “Hey, Big Red!”‘
Jones, 48, let out a laugh as she gave a slow-motion impression of the female hosts’ reactions to the nickname.
She added: ‘And all the girls were like, “No, no! Don’t say that!”‘
The hosts explained that Roker did not initially understand the reaction to his phrasing – before his female colleagues set him straight.
‘Savannah [Guthrie] was like “Oh my God, I can’t believe you said that,”‘ Jones recalled.
The Today show’s Al Roker has sparked outrage over his controversial nickname for co-host Jenna Bush Hager
The 72-year-old caused quite the stir among his colleagues after making a seemingly clumsy comment about Hager’s outfit
‘And Al leans over to me, and he’s like, “What did I do?”‘
Jones quickly informed the veteran broadcaster: ‘You can’t say anything that takes up space.’
‘You can’t call somebody, a woman “big!”‘ Hager chimed in.
Co-host Jones offered up some alternatives such as ‘Skinny Red’ before Roker tried again.
‘He was like, “Sorry, Tall Red!”‘ Hager said. ‘I’m like, “Not okay!”‘
Hager previously admitted that her three children, Mila, 13, Poppy, 11, and Hal, seven, whom she shares with husband Henry Hager, had also been calling her Biggie or Big Back.
‘I like humor in words, so I was like, “Oh, that’s creative.” But I’m like, “Stop calling everybody Biggie. It’s gonna spread,”‘ she said back in May.
The encounter comes just days after Roker himself was lost for words after Carson Daly’s ‘awkward’ on-air behavior during the Today show.
The encounter comes just days after Roker himself was lost for words after Carson Daly’s ‘awkward’ on-air behavior during the Today show
The 72-year-old was faced with the unexpected encounter as he was gearing up to deliver the latest weather report on Monday.
Guthrie, flanked by co-hosts Daly and Jones, who was filling in for Craig Melvin, handed over to Roker for his segment.
Roker then enthusiastically gestured his appreciation as he attempted to respond.
‘Well guys, good morning,’ came the muffled reply from the weathercaster who quickly realized something was wrong.
He swiftly reached into his back pocket to retrieve his microphone pack as the panel shouted words of advice.
‘Just click it, push “on,”‘ Jones said, before Guthrie added: ‘Just talk really loud.’
But Daly had other ideas.
He could be heard from off camera offering his own microphone to Roker who was tapping at his equipment pack.
Roker seemed to have finally fixed the issue as Daly appeared in shot and swaddled him with a huge bear hug.
‘Oooh baby,’ the weathercaster said with his co-host remaining at very close quarters.
Daly eventually let Roker out of the hold but the move appeared to leave him speechless.
Seemingly struggling to find his words, Roker let out a nervous chuckle before he continued: ‘That was… that was awkward.’
