Jenna Bush Hager Gets Emotional, Admits She ‘Wasn’t There’ For Hoda Kotb
May 15, 2023 by Maria Pierides
Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager discuss a wide range of topics on Today with Hoda and Jenna, and therefore go through a wide range of emotions in front of the cameras. And on the Wednesday, May 10th episode of Today with Hoda and Jenna, while on the subject of being brutally honest, Jenna became visibly overcome with emotion when discussing how she felt like she wasn’t there for Hoda when her daughter was in the hospital earlier this year.
If you’ll recall, back in March, Hoda and ex-husband Joel Schiffman’s three-year-old daughter Hope Catherine was in the ICU for several days and the hospital for more than a week, leading to Hoda having to take some time off from Today. Hoda returned to Today on March 6th and told viewers that her daughter was back home.
During their discussion about being brutally honest, the 41-year-old mom-of-three got emotional when she said she didn’t know how to support her co-star while her daughter was in the hospital, confessing: “I just wasn’t there for her the way I wanted to be.”
Jenna first brought up the incident when she said, “There was a time when I was feeling a little sad with you,” before confessing that neither of them actually did anything wrong, but she held in her feelings so much that she just “exploded.” “If you can’t tell the truth, that would be horrible,” Jenna added, to which the Making Space with Hoda Kotb podcast host, 58, replied, “You’re always so honest. I think it’s such a good thing. I mean, I can’t believe you’re bringing up that thing.” Jenna – after receiving her friend’s permission – went into further detail about the “thing” they were referring to, i.e., the time Hope was in the hospital.