AN ex-Today show host has claimed her appearance was the reason she was fired, despite the significant ratings boost she brought to the program.
Tamron Hall, who co-anchored Today from 2014 to 2017, made some shocking remarks about her sudden exit from the show.
Tamron Hall co-anchored the morning show from 2014 to 2017[/caption]
She claimed on a recent podcast that she was fired because executives wanted a ‘different look’[/caption]
The journalist appeared on Samantha Chatman’s new podcast, I Made It Mama, on Wednesday, where she discussed transitioning out of her role on Today, after she was abruptly axed after three years as host.
Tamron recalled the moment she discovered she no longer held her spot on the morning show upon hearing she was being replaced on a news broadcast.
“I was actually in Chicago, and I turned on the TV and they revealed they were hiring someone else,” the 54-year-old disclosed to the audience.
The Texas native then revealed that she immediately flew to the studio to “negotiate” her position, but despite her best efforts to keep her job, she was let go.
In her plea to NBC execs, Tamron remembered highlighting her achievements during her time with the network, which she said included considerably improving ratings, including viewership of the show’s third hour, Today’s Take, which she hosted.
A DIFFERENT DIRECTION
However, the author claimed there was nothing she could say to change their minds as they had already decided to go a different direction.
“I watched this man’s eyes glaze over. He wasn’t listening to me,” Tamron said to the crowd.
“And he kept making excuses…I left because I knew no matter what I said, the ratings, the accolades, the awards, the Emmys – it didn’t matter.
“They had determined they wanted a different look for that spot, and I wasn’t that look,” she alleged.
Tamron made history as the first African American woman to co-anchor Today, co-hosting alongside Natalie Morales, Al Roker, and Willie Geist.
She also worked as a national news correspondent for NBC News, a daytime anchor for MSNBC, and hosted her own segment, MSNBC Live with Tamron Hall.
Megyn Kelly ended up filling Tamron’s slot on the show following her departure.
This isn’t the first time Tamron has publicly discussed her abrupt firing.
In September 2019, the broadcaster told Entertainment Tonight that her getting the boot came out of left field, though the network likened it to a “demotion.”
TODAY Show hosts
NBC’s Today show premiered in 1952 and has bidden viewers good morning every weekday since, adding Saturday and Sunday shows in the 1980s and 1990s. The show’s current host lineup includes:
Although the news was disappointing at the time, it appeared to be a blessing as the TV star went on to host the syndicated daily show, The Tamron Hall Show, which is airing its seventh season on ABC this fall.
Tamron’s work on the talk show earned her two Daytime Emmy Award wins and numerous other nominations since its start in September 2019.
Tamron made history as the first African American woman to co-anchor Today[/caption]
Tamron now hosts her own syndicated daily show, The Tamron Hall Show[/caption]
