The Today show’s Al Roker has drawn criticism over a controversial nickname he used for co-host Jenna Bush Hager.
The 72-year-old weather presenter sparked a reaction among his colleagues after making what appeared to be an awkward remark about Hager’s outfit.
The exchange was revisited during Thursday’s episode of Today with Jenna & Sheinelle.
Recalling Tuesday’s broadcast, 44-year-old Hager said: ‘Earlier this week when I was wearing red and I walked onto the set and Al goes, “Hey, Big Red!”’
Jones, 48, laughed as she recreated the female hosts’ stunned reactions in slow motion.
She recalled: ‘And all the girls were like, “No, no! Don’t say that!”’
The hosts said Roker initially did not understand why his comment had caused such a reaction, prompting his female colleagues to explain the problem.
‘Savannah [Guthrie] was like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe you said that,”’ Jones recalled.
Al Roker has faced criticism over the nickname he used for Today co-host Jenna Bush Hager
The 72-year-old presenter caused a stir among his colleagues with an awkward comment about Hager’s outfit
‘And Al leans over to me, and he’s like, “What did I do?”’
Jones said she quickly set him straight, telling the veteran broadcaster: ‘You can’t say anything that takes up space.’
‘You can’t call somebody, a woman “big!”’ Hager added.
Jones suggested alternatives, including ‘Skinny Red,’ before Roker made another attempt.
‘He was like, “Sorry, Tall Red!”’ Hager recalled. ‘I’m like, “Not okay!”’
Hager has previously revealed that her three children with husband Henry Hager—Mila, 13, Poppy, 11, and seven-year-old Hal—had also started calling her ‘Biggie’ or ‘Big Back.’
‘I like humor in words, so I was like, “Oh, that’s creative.” But I’m like, “Stop calling everybody Biggie. It’s gonna spread,”’ she said in May.
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The incident came just days after Roker was left speechless by Carson Daly’s ‘awkward’ behavior on air during the Today show.
The incident followed Roker being left speechless by Carson Daly’s ‘awkward’ on-air behavior during the Today show
Join the discussion
Was Al Roker out of line for calling Jenna Bush Hager ‘Big Red’, or has an innocent joke been blown out of proportion?
The 72-year-old was faced with the unexpected encounter as he was gearing up to deliver the latest weather report on Monday.
Guthrie, flanked by co-hosts Daly and Jones, who was filling in for Craig Melvin, handed over to Roker for his segment.
Roker then enthusiastically gestured his appreciation as he attempted to respond.
‘Well guys, good morning,’ came the muffled reply from the weathercaster who quickly realized something was wrong.
He swiftly reached into his back pocket to retrieve his microphone pack as the panel shouted words of advice.
‘Just click it, push “on,”‘ Jones said, before Guthrie added: ‘Just talk really loud.’
But Daly had other ideas.
He could be heard from off camera offering his own microphone to Roker who was tapping at his equipment pack.
Roker seemed to have finally fixed the issue as Daly appeared in shot and swaddled him with a huge bear hug.
‘Oooh baby,’ the weathercaster said with his co-host remaining at very close quarters.
Daly eventually let Roker out of the hold but the move appeared to leave him speechless.
Seemingly struggling to find his words, Roker let out a nervous chuckle before he continued: ‘That was… that was awkward.’
