Today’s Craig Melvin leaves Parker Posey stunned with inappropriate mispronunciation of ‘horror’

The Today show’s Craig Melvin left guest Parker Posey stunned after he seemingly mispronounced the word ‘horror.’

The host, 47, welcomed The White Lotus alum to Monday morning’s live episode to discuss her new projects and upcoming career moves.

‘Before I let you get out of here, we gotta talk horror,’ Melvin said.

Posey, 57, suddenly looked confused and covered her mouth before she whispered across to the TV personality.

And Melvin soon realized his mistake. 

‘No, hor-ror!’ he quickly clarified by enunciating the word.

‘I thought you called me a wh**e,’ the actress fired back.

Melvin continued to try and make amends as he added: ‘I did not call you a wh**e! H-O-R-R-O-R. Horror. I did not enunciate well.’

The duo both let out giggles before carrying on the conversation – which did not get any easier.

‘Tell us about your new horror film,’ Melvin asked, in reference to a film called Sleepover.

But Posey, who previously starred in movies such as Scream 3 and Blade, bluntly responded, ‘I’m not doing it… 

‘No. I’m not doing it anymore… Now I’m sweating. I was. It’s not happening anymore. Something came up.’

She did not elaborate further as Melvin appeared to squirm and shift in his seat following the series of blunders.

‘Okay, well, now it’s even more awkward than usual,’ he shared.  

Thankfully, the interview finished on a more positive note as Posey made reference to his recent win in People’s Sexiest Man Alive Readers’ Choice Poll 2026, clinching the title in the ‘Hotter Than Your Morning Cup of Coffee category.

‘Hey, you’re the sexiest man alive! Hotter than a cup of coffee, Craig!’ she concluded. 

The awkward encounter comes just days after colleague Al Roker found himself in hot water 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.

Speaking on Thursday’s episode of Today with Jenna & Sheinelle, 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. 

‘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.