Al Roker Is Reportedly ‘Thrilled’ To Replace Megyn Kelly On ‘Today’ Show’s Third Hour
On the morning of Monday, Oct. 29, fans weren’t greeted by their usual co-host, Megyn Kelly, on the Today show’s third hour. Instead, Al Roker sat with Hoda Kotb and Craig Melvin and addressed the future of Megyn Kelly Today after Megyn’s blackface comments controversy last week. Watch the video above for more on Al’s new Today gig!
“Today, as you know, we are starting a new chapter in the third hour of our show,” Hoda told the audience at the start of the morning program. “As it evolves, we want you to know that the entire Today family will continue to bring you informative and important stories just as we always have.”
According to Radar Online, Al was “thrilled” to return to hosting the show’s third hour months after NBC gave his timeslot to Megyn. “He’s still pissed NBC dropped him in the first place, but happy to get his old hour back,” a source told the outlet.
NBC confirmed last week that Megyn, 47, was on her way out at Today just days after she questioned why blackface Halloween costumes were “racist” on her show. “You do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface for Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween… when I was a kid, that was OK as long as you were dressing up as a character,” said during a panel discussion on Oct. 23.
Al, 64, later said he was deeply hurt by Megyn’s offensive comments and said that she “owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country because this is our history, going back to the 1830s.” He added, “Minstrel shows meant to denigrate a race, you know I am old enough to have lived through Amos ‘n’ Andy where you had white people in blackface playing the black characters just magnifying the worst stereotypes about black people. And that’s what the big problem is.”
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