It wasn’t more than a few hours before rumors of who would or could replace Kathie Lee Gifford on TODAY. The current leading name for the job is the daughter of former President George W. Bush, Jenna Bush Hager.
Hager is well liked by the NBC News team and extrmely liked by the TODAY show hosts and producers. Hager fills in and contributes quite a bit to TODAY .
Insiders say that Kathie Lee Gifford wanted to call it quits on the ‘Today’ Show for a year; however, she recently announced on Tuesday, she’s leaving the NBC show after 11 years.
NBC News allegedly begged her to stay on for another year because they wanted to keep as much continuity as possible. When Gifford asked for her resignation, Matt Lauer was just fired from the ‘Today’ show for sexual misconduct, Megyn Kelly was fired after making blackface comments, and Tamron Hall who quit a day before her contract renewed.
The execs even bribed her with benefits including, allowing Gifford to take off lengthy amounts of time to make movies and record music so that she would stay longer.
Giffored stated she wanted to resign to focus more on her movie career.
After she announced her departure from the show on the air Tuesday morning, Gifford said: “I know somebody wonderful will be sitting in this seat afterward.” And, “I have my idea who might be absolutely wonderful.”
Former NBC Today Show host, Megyn Kelly, is nearing her official exit deal. According to The Wallstreet Journal, Kelly is expected to make the remaining balance on her contract, reportedly worth $69 Million.
Comcast, the parent company of NBC, is currently negotiating the exit deal with Kelly’s lawyers. WSJ expects a deal to be made early next week.
NBC has officially announced that Megyn Kelly will not be returning to the Today show.
“Megyn Kelly TODAY is not returning. Next week, the 9 a.m. hour will be hosted by other TODAY co-anchors,” a statement from an NBC News spokesperson read.
No word on if Kelly will continue with the network in another capacity. If NBC decides to fire her, she will be paid out her remaining contract (Rumored to be worth $50-70 Million).
Kelly’s exit from Today
NBC spent a lot of money a few years back to lure Megyn Kelly away from her longtime home of FOX News. Now, just shy of two years, the Megyn Kelly experiment seems to have ended over controversial comments made by the morning show host.
Kelly joined NBC in January 2017, just weeks before President Trump’s inauguration, and since then really didn’t move the needle the way NBC had hoped.
Megan Kelly Today took over the 9 a.m slot of the Today show. It really seemed to me that Kelly never really found her voice on the less political talk show.
On Monday, Kelly made comments about how it wasn’t bad to use blackface in a Halloween costume, as long as it was respectful and part of a costume. Kelly was instantly ridiculed for the comments. Now, she’s reportedly out of her talk show.
And NBC executive saying “Kelly’s out. You will never see her on NBC again”.
Here’s the kicker: IF NBC decides to fire her, she will walk away with $70 Million. NBC will have to pay her $70 Million, the remainder of her contract at NBC. Kelly will get an extended paid vacation to go away for a while.
Another report states that Kelly went to NBC News head, Any Lack, to ask if she can do more hard news rather than feel good stories and was turned down. Now, rumors are swirling that Kelly might be headed back to Fox News – which is where she was for 14 years prior.
What do you think about the Megyn Kelly firing from NBC?
The Voice is back on NBC for the 15th season. Coaches Adam Levine, Jennifer Hudson, Blake Shelton and the reigning and defending champion, Kelly Clarkson, are all battling it out for the best of the best singers on the show.
Let’s break down 5 of our favorites!
The Nick Cannon look alike is a military veteran who came out and impressed Jennifer Hudson from the start. From his opening note, JHUD was impressed. Hudson was the only coach to turn their chair for West, but good thing she did.
Ayana Joni didn’t get a single chair turn, and it’s a shame. You can hear the nerves in her voice, but she had a great soul and added a new dynamic to the Demi Lovato hit she sang. Thankfully, Kelsea Bellarini picked her for the new digital series, The Comeback Stage.
Mikele Buck stunned the audience with his soulful country cover of “She Used To Be Mine”. At the last minute, Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson pushed their button. I am so glad that he made the show. Shelton called him “Rough around the edge”, which is a good thing. My favorite line of the negotiation was Clarkson saying “My husband hunts and he loves friends”. Buck ended up on team Kelly!
Michael Lee is an incredible singer and an incredible guitar player. Kelly Clarkson teamed up with Jennifer Hudson to help her get Lee on Team JHUD, but ultimately Lee chose Blake Shelton.
Singer RADHA slayed the stage with Jessie J’s “Momma Knows Best”. Adam turned almost instantly and blocked Jennifer Hudson from being able to claim RADHA.