Hale, 35, showed off her effortlessly chic street style while strolling through Los Angeles on Thursday, January 9. For her laid-back outing, Hale rocked a gray crewneck and rolled her sleeves up while carrying her phone, a coffee and a green juice.
The piece de resistance was her baggy blue jeans featuring a high-waist and strategic rips. Hale further dressed up her look with a silver ring, layered gold bracelets, a number of hoop earrings and a dainty necklace. Hale tied her low-key look together with a woven leather purse and a blue baseball cap. In true Lucy Hale fashion, she wore her go-to Adidas Sambas.
Matching her chill outfit aesthetic with her glam, Hale donned a fresh face and tied her hair into a bun.
This is hardly the first time Hale has commanded attention for her low-key denim while roaming through Los Angeles. In July 2024, she gave Us major French girl vibes while rocking blue straight jeans that hugged her in all the right places. Hale’s hair, which was cut into a chic bob at the time, was blown out and bounced off her shoulders as she accessorized with gold hoop earrings.
Hale again looked timeless in a denim jacket while out and about in March 2024. She styled the cropped piece with a burnt orange hoodie underneath and a white tank. Hale kept her look cozy to walk in with black leggings, white socks and running shoes.
The Pretty Little Liars alum perfectly elevated her look with round brown sunglasses and a leather crossbody bag. Hale completed her look by twisting her hair into a messy bun with her curtain bangs framing her face.
When she’s not showing off her street style, Hale can be seen looking gorgeous on the red carpet. Most recently, she stunned in a little red Markarian dress at the Friendly House Humanitarian Awards in September 2024. The trendy number featured a flowy silhouette and a scarf that she tossed over her shoulders. Hale matched the piece to her pointed-toe leather heels.
Jennifer Aydin is weighing in on Andy Cohen calling her Jersey Mike’s drama a “self-inflicted wound.”
“I did not see it. Somebody told me about it. I did not hear that,” the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 47, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, January 8. “But you know what? I would say that’s accurate.”
Aydin made headlines earlier this month for her unexpected feud with multiple Jersey Mike’s employees. The Bravo personality posted a video on her social media page claiming she waited for “what felt like forever” for service from the sandwich shop. An employee who was there subsequently fired back at Aydin via TikTok.
Cohen, 56, later took to his radio show to call the moment an “a self-inflicted wound.”
“She melted down. And you know what, before you hit send on the post, take a beat and say, ‘How is this gonna land?’” Cohen said during the Monday, January 6, episode of his SiriusXM show Radio Andy. “How are you going to cause so much trouble for yourself? … You’re at the airport, you’re getting a sandwich. … It’s just, how is this gonna land?”
Upon further reflection, Aydin acknowledged she should not have posted the video of her interaction with several fast food workers.
“I have to realize that me posting it is, in fact, a self-inflicted wound. I did not think it was going to go down that way,” she explained on Wednesday. “I thought that people would see the video and be like, ‘How rude was this guy to you?’ And he doesn’t even know you, so it’s fine. It’s all good. Lesson learned.”
While sitting down with Us, Aydin gave us her recollection of what happened. According to the reality star, the incident happened while traveling with husband Bill Aydin, their five kids and additional family members over the holidays.
“[Bill] took all the kids, went to another stand that had a table, ordered food. It was about 5:30 in the morning,” Jennifer said. “Jersey Mike’s did not open until 5:30, and my cousin and I got on the line pretty much around 5:45 a.m. and there were not that many people on the line. Again, it was a little slow-moving, but we weren’t going to complain.”
When Jennifer did place her order, Bill was not with her. When he later joined her, Bill shared that one of their kids ended up wanting a sandwich and Jennifer tried to add the item after already placing her order. The employee allegedly told Jennifer if she wanted another sandwich she would have to get in line again or ask the man who was next in line if it was OK if she went to the counter to order another item.
“In the video, they were still working on my sandwich. It’s not like I had paid. I didn’t check out,” she claimed. “So for them to tell me to wait to the end of the line or that I had to ask this guy’s permission — that just really started an altercation. They shouldn’t have done that and that’s just customer service. I’m realizing now that I can’t say, ‘I’m a celebrity.’ People are very angry. … I will no longer say I’m a celebrity since people are so angry about it. But, obviously, this wouldn’t have gone so viral as it did if I wasn’t a public figure.”
After Jennifer’s social media blow-up went viral, the fallout included her being dropped from an upcoming reality stars cruise. In addition to the firing, the RHONJ cast’s future remains up in the air after the show was put on pause following season 14. While the show’s direction is in limbo, Jennifer has faith that everything will work out and says she has “respect” no matter what Bravo decides.
“I feel like by the time they’ve regrouped to even consider who they’re going to recast or if they’re going to recast, this will be such water under the bridge. So I don’t really think that’s a thing,” she told Us. “Plus, by the time they reconfigure who’s going to be on the staff, I don’t know where I’m going to be at that point in my life. I am a big believer in that God protects me and my blessings are in the proof of my lifestyle in the good that I do. I always constantly pay it forward.”
Ruby Franke’s daughter Shari Franke is opening up about her deepest fears.
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Katie Maloney is in mourning.
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“I’m divorced. Thank you, God,” Lindsay, 39, said during the Friday, January 10 episode of her “Higher Learning” podcast. “Give me some freedom music. Some freedom music.”
After joking around for a minute, Lindsay became serious explaining to cohost Van Lathan that it’s “a very weird feeling” to actually be divorced.
“From the moment he finally left the house, after being here for seven months post-separation, I felt divorced,” she continued. “I’ll be honest, there’s a lot I want to say.”
Lindsay noted that “from the beginning” she has wanted to share her side of the story — but not quite yet.
“I haven’t talked, but I will and I’m just figuring all that out,” she continued. “There [are] so many things that I want to address.”
Elsewhere in the episode, Lindsay revealed what “bothered” her “the most” about how Abasolo was acting.
“On his end, there were certain things that were said to play into certain stereotypes that really were hurtful or bothered me. … Saying things that particularly play into the stereotype of me being an angry Black female,” she said, claiming that “a narrative” played out in which she “placed a career” over the relationship and kids.
“Those things are emphatically so not true,” Lindsay said. “To see people run with that because it’s the low-hanging fruit and it fits a certain stereotype, were really hurtful.”
Lindsay and Abasolo, 44, met and got engaged during season 13 ofThe Bachelorette, which aired in 2017. He filed for divorce from Lindsay in January 2024 after more than four years of marriage. After a messy back and forth, which included details of their finances and the pair continuing to live together, their divorce was finalized on Tuesday, January 7. (They did not have a prenuptial agreement.)
Us confirmed in July 2024 that Lindsay was ordered to pay Abasolo $13,257 a month in temporary spousal support along with $20,000 in attorney’s fees and forensic expert expenses. Their divorce documents, obtained by Us on Tuesday, share that Abasolo “waives, discharges and releases” Lindsay from “any and all” future payments. (She still owes him $460,229.)
Lindsay did not address any specifics of their split during Friday’s podcast episode but did say that there was a point she had to become “the bigger person” in their divorce.
“When someone is fighting you in this way and willing to die on every hill and not willing to compromise at all for whatever reason they have — and [I’ll] talk about that later,” she said. “You have to at one point let go and just be the bigger person and prioritize what is most important to you.”
Lindsay explained that she got to the point where she was “trying to move on” and “had to make concessions that I didn’t necessarily want to do.”
“My peace of mind is priceless at the end of the day, and I really want to start rebuilding, and I want to move forward,” she added. “I’m able to do that now. And that feels really, really good.”
She concluded that she “wouldn’t get married without a prenup again,” adding: “It’s, like, changed my whole perspective on everything. I don’t even know if I would get married again. I can’t even fathom that.”
Let the cameras roll. Chrisley Knows Best is certainly not without drama, but its stars have been at the center of more controversies than a single reality show can handle.
Fans met Todd Chrisley, Julie Chrisley and their kids — Chase, Savannah and Grayson — when the series premiered on USA Network in March 2014. The businessman’s children from his first marriage to Teresa Terry — Lindsie and Kyle — also appeared on early seasons of the show.
However, the former real estate tycoon’s relationships with his older kids broke down as the family became more high-profile. The feuds soon became public knowledge and often played out for the world to see.
When Todd revealed in April 2020 that he was hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19, a social media user sent Lindsie a DM, which she shared via her Instagram Story. “Hi Lindsie!” the note read. “Did you see your Dad has Covid? I guess the good guys really do win in the end.”
The “Coffee Convos” podcast cohost fired back at the negative sentiment. “The audacity of some people blows my mind,” she retorted. “This is disgusting. My inbox is flooding with similar messages & I’m not here for it. Get right or get off my page.”
Lindsie took her reaction one step further, exclusively telling Us Weekly at the time, “I don’t want anything bad to happen to my father.”
Her attorney, meanwhile, added that the reality star “was very saddened to hear that her father was diagnosed with COVID. She does not feel happy he has the virus.” Todd, for his part, eventually recovered.
Although Lindsie wished her father well when he was sick, their relationship was not mended. Kyle, on the other hand, revealed in August 2019 that he and Todd had reconciled after years of tension.
“My mom [Julie] and dad raised me,” Kyle wrote via Instagram. “I haven’t been the best dad to [daughter] Chloe, I’ve had a problem with drugs, I’ve acted completely ridiculously, and through all that, they have stood by my side. Nine months ago, I went to my dad with an apology. His words were ‘I love you always, and you are forgiven’ and just like that, I was welcomed back into his life with open arms. I will be forever grateful for his love [and] graciousness.”
The Chrisleys’ drama only got more intense in June 2022, when Todd and Julie were convicted of tax evasion, bank fraud and conspiracy. Though the Chrisley family patriarch denied the allegations three years prior — claiming that an ex-employee set them up — Todd and Julie were later sentenced to 12 years in prison and seven years in federal prison, respectively.
Scroll through the gallery below to revisit all of the scandals the Chrisleys have been involved in during their time in the spotlight.
Fans of The Traitors were shocked on Thursday, January 9, when the first three episodes of the show’s third season were released and two unexpected players dropped in — literally.
The announced cast, which Peacock shared last June, arrived at their second mission to find three new players suspended above them in cages. One was Rob “Boston Rob” Mariano, who they elected not to invite into the game during the premiere episode.
Those who recognized Wes and Derrick, both 40, reacted with a predictable mix of excitement and apprehension at unleashing two masterminds into the game, while others clearly had no idea what either was capable of.
Both new players will begin as faithfuls, while Boston Rob will try to exact his revenge on those who didn’t invite him to enter the game by joining the traitors’ side.
Learn more about Wes and Derrick below.
Wes Bergmann
Not many people have more reality TV experience than Wes, who first appeared on The Real World: Austin in 2005. Since then, he’s played 14 seasons of The Challenge, two seasons of The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars, one season of The Challenge: All-Stars, one season of The Challenge: USA and played in The Challenge: World Championship. He was also runner-up on House of Villains season 2.
Known as a master strategist and relentless competitor, Wes’ scheming has been both a blessing and a curse in his reality history. On The Challenge, It landed him in hot water and forced him into plenty of eliminations. But he also owns the franchise’s record for consecutive elimination wins with eight.
Wes has combined his physical prowess with a fearlessness that has continued to help him land roles across the reality competition universe. Two Challenge alumni (Chris “CT” Tamburello and Trishelle Cannatella) won season 2 of The Traitors and Wes can match up with either of them.
Derrick Levasseur
Widely considered one of the greatest Big Brother players of all-time, the Big Brother 16 winner has the social ability to be a mastermind without ever appearing to be a threat. On Big Brother, he is both credited for his strategy and derided by some for “ruining” the game by showing future players how to dominate from start to finish.
On his season of Big Brother, Derrick formed a majority alliance early on with big competition threats, ensuring his side was almost always in power. As a result, he was never up for eviction and coasted to victory. Some argue Derrick had an easy path to his win because of the relatively low skill level of his competitors, but the season also included two future winners — former The Traitors contestant Cody Califiore and Nicole Franzel — as well as Frankie Grande, who some consider one of the most underrated players ever.
Another key for Derrick, both on Big Brother and The Traitors: He is a former undercover police officer. He kept this from his housemates on BB16, but with him already knowing several players on The Traitors, it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the cast catches wind of his ability to deceive, read and react.
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Mel Gibson opened up about his life and career in a wide-ranging two-hour interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, including how he creates his film roles.
“Sure, I’ve planned a lot of murders in my life — we all have,” Gibson, 69, said on the Thursday, January 9, episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, while discussing his upcoming project The Resurrection Of The Christ and how he develops story lines and characters. “In your head, you plan them and you think, ‘Well, that’s not a very good idea, but I think I can get away with it.’”
“I actually spent a long time in my animal brain, which is a very horrible place to be,” Gibson said. “[Where] you’re in ‘fight or flight’ all the time, you don’t even sleep. It’s really not a good place to be and if anybody looks at you the wrong way, you want to bite ‘em — and sometimes you say and do things that are socially unacceptable.”
The actor revealed that he even underwent a “brain scan” to understand his perspective.
“[The neurologist] looked at my brain and he was like, he opens the file … and he goes, ‘Are you OK?’” Gibson recalled. “He sat next to me, but very slowly and cautiously, and said, ‘No, you’re not. You’ve got the worst case of PTSD I have ever seen.’”
Gibson then “started to well up” over the doctor’s admission.
“He had a very miraculous and great remedy for it, which was to eat a bunch of fish oil, vitamin B complex and get into a hyperbaric chamber for 40 sessions — but make sure you do at least two or three a week,” he said. “It fixed my head, really. It got me out of that wacky place.”
After working with the doctor, Gibson found that he was less irritable — his brain trauma was the result of past injuries while playing rugby growing up — and eventually came to the realization that he didn’t want to follow through on any of his apparent murder plots.
“When I kill somebody, you know, it’s terrible and it’s not socially acceptable,” Gibson said. “Plus, I don’t want to go to prison.”
Gibson is now focused on his acting career, asserting to Rogan, 57, that he wants to tell a story about “good and evil.”
“It’s the resurrection story, but it’s not linear because it’s hard to understand,” he explained. “It’s got be put in a framework where you answer a few other questions as well and you have to juxtapose the event itself against everything itself so that it makes some kind of sense in a bigger picture, which is a hard thing to do.”
Hoda Kotb officially closed her Today show chapter on Friday, January 10. The longtime anchor wrapped up her nearly 30 years on NBC with an emotional farewell to the iconic morning show, and there were a few special guests on hand to send her off. Kotb, 60, got emotional throughout the broadcast as she was honored by fellow Today hosts past and present — from Savannah Guthrie to Kathie Lee Gifford. “She’s sunshine in a bottle,” Gifford, 71, gushed over her former cohost before sharing a toast to Kotb. “May you walk into the most joyful, prosperous, purposeful time in your life with those precious daughters that I watched come into your life. What a blessing that was. I’ll never forget it.” Kotb previously announced in September 2024 that she would be leaving the Today show, and Friday’s episode marked the end of a week-long “Hoda-bration” in her honor. Scroll below for more of Us Weekly’s top stories:
Tom Holland’s father confirmed the actor’s engagement to Zendaya in a recent blog post, revealing that Holland was “very well-prepared” to propose.
Mandy Moore explained why she shared a GoFundMe launched to help her brother-in-law and his pregnant wife, who “lost their home and everything they own” in the Los Angeles wildfires.
HGTV star Christina Haack exclusively opened up to Us about whether she wants to get married again following her divorce from third husband Joshua Hall.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are lending a helping hand amid the devastation in L.A. by opening their California home to friends and donating essential items.
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If you’re anything like Us, the new year is off to a busy start. Along with returning to work, we’re tackling our resolutions right along with it. In some cases that means running from leading a business meeting to running to an afternoon workout class and heading right back to the office. No matter how your calendar looks this 2025, you should put your best foot forward with stylish footwear. Right now, Zappos is hosting a winter clearance sale, offering up to 70% off!
Ready to upgrade your footwear collection this year? Stock up on fashionable designer loafers to throw your hat in the running for best dressed in the office. Prepping for a half marathon this spring? Hit the ground running in cozy, celeb-loved sneakers. No matter where your plans take you this year,the Zappos winter sale has footwear deals to meet your needs. Check out our top picks ahead!
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Kelly Stafford came through in the clutch for Los Angeles Rams fans trying to see their team in the playoffs.
After the Rams home playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings scheduled for Monday, January 13 was relocated to Glendale, Arizona due to the wildfires in southern California, fans called on the organization to provide transportation for season ticket holders who had been left stranded.
That’s when one of them received a DM via Instagram from Stafford, the wife of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
“I will gladly rent a charter bus for fans! There and back! Lemme know!” Kelly messaged a Rams superfan named Robert.
Robert responded, “Omg no way?! We would appreciate that so much! We just want to be there!!!!! Praying for your safety .”
The plan was quickly set in motion, with Kelly offering to charter a second bus after demand was so high.
“We all love and appreciate the Staffords for everything they do for the Ramily,” Robert posted via his Instagram Story.
Kelly indicated she’d be in attendance at the game in Arizona with her four daughters, as well. Via her Instagram Story, she shared an old video of her girls — twins Sawyer and Chandler, 7, Hunter, 6, and Tyler, 4 — cheering on Matthew at the Rams game in Glendale against the Arizona Cardinals last year.
“Heading back there soon with these cuties ,” Kelly posted.
During a press conference on Thursday, January 9, before the game against the Vikings had officially been relocated, Matthew — who noted the wildfires had briefly knocked out the power at his family’s home — addressed the devastation impacting his community.
“It’s a tough thing to watch on the news, to be around, to see,” Matthew told reporters. “Driving around seeing all that, it’s just really sad to see what’s going on. Obviously, a bunch of people doing everything they possibly can to try and get things under control and get people back to normal as quickly as possible.”
Matthew added, “Every time we suit up, we’re the Los Angeles Rams. We play for the people in this community. The people in this community support us. This week will be another example of that, obviously. Hopefully a great escape for people who have been going through a lot of tough times.”
The Rams-Vikings Wild Card playoff game kicks off from Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium on Monday, January 13 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Check the LAFD website for local wildfire alerts and click here for resources on how to help those affected.
“This last Sunday, my father passed away,” Katie, 37, wrote via Instagram on Friday, January 10. “Since I have been met with a variety of emotions, numbness, peace, complete udder sadness and even at times guilt. My dad was everyone’s favorite, he was so charming, made everyone feel welcome and comfortable. We shared the love of dad jokes and he had an endless supply.”
While paying tribute to her beloved family member, Katie shared photos from recent vacations including a snowy trip to Salt Lake City, Utah.
“He was always so supportive of my brothers and I growing up and as adults championed our endeavors,” she wrote. “I cannot smell Irish spring without immediately thinking about him, how the scent almost covered up the smell of wheel grease from his job. It’s a core memory that I have always held and hold closer now.”
Soon after sharing her personal news, the “Disrespectfully” podcast host received well wishes from her Bravo family.
“Sending you love ,” The Valley’s Janet Caperna wrote in the comments section. Summer House’s Amanda Batula added, “So sorry for your loss Katie .”
Earlier in the week, Katie’s brother, Rocky Maloney, also paid tribute to his father via Instagram, calling him “such an amazing person, dad and friend.”
“Dad, I will think about you everyday,” he wrote. “I will always look at my phone waiting for our daily phone call to talk sports.”
As the Maloney family continues their grieving process, Katie is focused on all the positive memories she made with her father away from any camera crews.
“Dad, I love you forever, thank you for the million laughs, for the father-daughter dances throughout life and for the love you gave us,” she said. “I feel like I am a stranger to grief. As much as it has touched my life and so many I love. It’s not something I have become comfortable or well acquainted with.”
Katie is an original cast member of Vanderpump Rules and documented her life in West Hollywood for 11 seasons.
Although Bravo announced in November 2024 that the show would be revamping for season 12 with a brand-new cast, the reality star has her hands full with a variety of projects including her Something About Her sandwich shop with costar Ariana Madix.
“It’s a mixed bag. But I wouldn’t change a thing,” Katie shared via her Instagram Story after the news was announced. “Thank you for the memories and the love the last 11 years.”
Several Today show hosts have come and gone from the NBC morning show over the years — both on good and bad terms.
Hoda Kotb, for her part, surprised fans in September 2024 with news that she would be leaving Today after nearly 30 years at NBC. “I just turned 60, and it was such a monumental moment for me when I turned 60 years old because I started thinking about that decade, like, what does that decade mean? What does it hold? What’s it gonna have for me?” she tearfully announced at the time. “And I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new.”
Kotb recalled how celebrating her 60th birthday on the show the month prior helped her realize it was time to step back from Today. “I remembered standing outside, looking at this beautiful bunch of people with all these gorgeous signs, and I thought, ‘This is what the top of the wave feels like for me,’ and I thought, ‘It can’t get better,’” she explained. “And [I] decided this is the right time for me to, kind of, move on.
Additionally, Kotb said wanting to spend more time with her daughters, Haley and Hope, whom she shares with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman, played a big role in her decision. “I was thinking they deserve a bigger piece of my time, the pie that I have. I feel like we only have a finite amount of time,” she stated. “And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world.”
Kotb officially bid farewell to Today on January 10, 2025.
Scroll down to see more of the Today show’s most dramatic host exits:
Deborah Norville
Norville replaced longtime host Jane Pauley on Today in 1990. After one year on the series, she exited the show while on maternity leave due to criticism and a decline in ratings.
“I was pushed out while on maternity leave, having just given birth to my first child. It was personally devastating to, in less than two years, go from ‘NBC’s fastest-rising star’ to a pariah in television. It was awful,” she recalled in a June 2012 column for The Hollywood Reporter. “But, just as an earthquake forces you to check the foundation of your home, having my career shatter forced me to reevaluate everything.”
She continued: “The depression I battled pushed me to investigate the power of the mind and led to my writing a number of books grounded in positive psychology, as I rebuilt my career first at ABC Radio, then CBS News and Inside Edition.”
Norville has served as the anchor of Inside Edition since 1995.
Katie Couric
Couric took over Norville’s hosting spot in 1991 and remained on Today through 2006. She recalled her decision to leave the show in her 2021 memoir, Going There, writing, “By 2005, I was at a crossroads. I loved the Today show, but after 15 years, I was getting restless. I longed to be respected for my journalistic chops, and although I’d done many serious interviews in the morning, the fun stuff, which I had a blast doing … [that] was what people remembered. I felt like the show was getting softer, the hard news interviews getting shorter, the segments getting more sensational.”
Couric went on to anchor CBS Evening News, becoming the first solo woman to anchor a nightly news broadcast. She left the role after five years, telling Today in October 2021 that she didn’t think “the country was ready for a female anchor.” She added: “Maybe they weren’t just ready for me as a female anchor because of their perceptions of me. But I really went there to say a woman can do this job with confidence and competence, and that’s really what motivated my decision.”
Ann Curry
Curry, who served as Matt Lauer’s coanchor for one year, unexpectedly announced on-air in 2012 that she was leaving the show. At the time, rumors spread that the network was not pleased with her lack of chemistry with Lauer, resulting in lower ratings.
“I still don’t really understand,” Curry told Elle of her Today exit in a September 2020 interview. “I know I did nothing wrong. I know I was good at my job. They say where there’s smoke, there’s fire. You can read the tea leaves. But you know, I’m a fact-based reporter, so it’s hard for me to go out there, with something so close to the vest. I don’t know. I don’t know.”
She continued: “The bottom line is that it still hurts. It honestly hurts really deeply, because I really think I did nothing wrong. But in spite of the pain of it, which still lingers, I know that I contributed to some people suffering less.”
Billy Bush
Us Weekly confirmed in October 2016 that Bush had been suspended from his role as a cohost of the third hour of Today after a video was leaked that showed him making lewd comments during a conversation with Donald Trump. He officially exited the series later that month after reaching a settlement with NBC.
“I am deeply grateful for the conversations I’ve had with my daughters, and for all of the support from family, friends and colleagues,” Bush told Us in a statement at the time. “I look forward to what lies ahead.” Bush has served as the host of Extra since 2019.
Tamron Hall
News broke in February 2017 that Hall would be leaving NBC News and MSNBC. The announcement came shortly after it revealed that Megyn Kelly would be taking over the third hour of Today, which Hall cohosted with Al Roker.
“Tamron is an exceptional journalist, we valued and enjoyed her work at Today and MSNBC and hoped that she would decide to stay. We are disappointed that she has chosen to leave, but we wish her all the best,” NBCUniversal said in a statement at the time.
A source exclusively told Us that the network wasn’t “fighting that hard” to keep Hall ahead of Kelly’s Today entrance, noting that Kelly was seen as “more valuable.” A second insider later told Us that Hall was blindsided by the switch-up and was only told “minutes before going on-air” that Kelly was taking over her and Roker’s time slot.
Hall moved on from Today with her eponymous talk show in 2019.
Matt Lauer
Savannah Guthrie and Kotb shocked Today viewers in November 2017 by announcing Lauer had been fired from NBC as a result of sexual misconduct allegations. At the time, Variety published a report accusing the longtime anchor of sexually harassing multiple women. The allegations included sending a woman a sex toy, dropping his pants in front of another and becoming angry with a woman for not engaging in sexual relations with him, among other claims.
Lauer broke his silence on the scandal shortly after his firing. “There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions. To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry,” Guthrie read on-air in a statement on Lauer’s behalf.
His statement continued: “Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul-searching and I’m committed to beginning that effort. It is now my full-time job.”
Kotb was named as Lauer’s replacement in 2018. NBCUniversal released their findings from a monthslong investigation into Lauer’s actions that May, revealing that network executives did not receive any complaints about his behavior prior to November 2017 when a woman, later revealed as Brooke Nevils, filed a complaint against Lauer. Per the report, Lauer admitted to engaging in sexual activity with the woman one day later.
In Ronan Farrow’s 2019 book, Catch and Kill, Nevils accused Lauer of anally raping her in his hotel room during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Nevils claimed that she confided in former Today host Meredith Vieira about the incident and was encouraged to report it to human resources.
Lauer slammed the rape accusations in an October 2019 statement to Us, calling Nevils’ claims “categorically false” and stating that their encounter was consensual. “But within a year she was reportedly out trying to sell a book. And it appears that she also sought a monetary payment from NBC,” he added. “Now she is making outrageous and false accusations to help sell a different book and stepping into the spotlight to cause as much damage as she can.”
Hoda Kotb
During her September 2024 departure announcement, Kotb shared that she would remain on the show until early 2025 and would not be completely parting ways with NBC. “She’s the person that everybody loves,” an NBC insider exclusively told Us at the time. “She’s the same off-camera as she is on-camera, and I think that’s what’s the hardest thing because that can’t be said for everybody.”
Calling Kotb’s exit a “huge blow” for the series, the source noted that the TV personality was “very focused” on wellness for her next career steps.
“I am starting a wellness app and company that will involve retreats and a podcast and all kinds of things that we can get together, do things that I love,” she shared on a January 2025 episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show. “It’s not like going to Mexico with your girls, which is fun, but this is something that when you leave, you’ll go like, ‘Oh my gosh, I feel transformed. I feel different.’”
At the time, she noted that the app was still “in the building process” but was expected to launch in that spring.
Kotb rang in her final week of Today with a “Hoda-bration” full of surprise guests, emotional reunions and heartfelt tributes. “I’ve become who I am on this hour of this show, and you were there with me every step of the way,” she read from a “love letter” she wrote to fans on her final episode of Hoda & Jenna. “So, as I sit here today in my final moments on this final day in this chapter of my career, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my very full heart for the ride of a lifetime. I love you.”