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Kathie Lee Gifford & Hoda Kotb Leave ‘Today’ In A Lurch Over Megyn Kelly Drama?

By Heather Tooley
Published on: 16:07 PST, Mar 9, 2017

Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb have left Today in a lurch with both absent at the same time from hosting the 10 a.m. hour of the show. The two are allegedly “sick” of the Megyn Kelly drama at the studio and neither one is willing to return anytime soon. Producers of the Today are said to be “panicked” because they have inexperienced co-hosts filling in for them.

Kathie Lee and Hoda are taking time off this month for family reasons, but it appears as though they aren’t in a big hurry to get back. Kathie Lee had prearranged vacation time to be at her son’s graduation in the U.K. and Hoda adopted a child without anyone knowing about it. Now NBC is without Gifford and Kotb at the same time, but the supposed drama surrounding the hiring of Megyn Kelly has peaked, according to an insider speaking with Radar Online about the situation.

The source said, Kathie Lee Gifford, 63, isn’t going to “cut her vacation short” just because Hoda Kotb, 52, is on maternity leave while she takes care of her baby daughter, Haley Joy. Kathie Lee’s 26-year-old son, Cody, just completed his master’s degree program and she’ll spend two weeks there this month.

While Kathie Lee and Hoda are enjoying their time off, producers are worried about the “inexperienced” Jenna Bush Hager and guest co-hosts sitting in for the 10 a.m. hour. The source claims the higher-ups have even “begged” for them to return. Despite the urgent request, Kathie Lee and Hoda aren’t jumping through hoops for their bosses. Even though Hoda is in town, she’s not leaving her apartment without her infant daughter.

The insider alleges that NBC’s newest arrival is the reason for Gifford and Kotb not returning to Today until they’re ready.

“Maybe [producers] should call Megyn Kelly. These two have given everything to the show, and now they don’t even know if Megyn is going to replace them. They are sick of being treated this way, and are finally putting themselves first.”

Megyn won’t begin her duties at NBC until at least May or this summer at the earliest. She’ll host one hour of a morning news program — possibly Today or a separate project — in addition to a daytime show and a Sunday evening news magazine.

Radar‘s source contradicts what Hoda Kotb told reporters a few weeks ago that she looks forward to having Megyn Kelly be part of their team and is looking ahead to the initiation of giving her wine and seeing her “wild side.”

Hoda ignores the negative headlines regarding Megyn and the impact at NBC.

“I guess when you know what’s real and you know what isn’t, who cares, right?”

Ever since Megyn Kelly’s departure from the Fox News Channel, a flurry of tabloid reports claim her move to NBC is putting everyone at the network on edge. Several reports have alleged that the big news anchors at NBC are threatened by Kelly and what it could mean about the future of their jobs. There was even talk that Savannah Guthrie, who’s been on maternity leave, could lose her job hosting Today with Matt Lauer. An executive with the network told Page Six that Guthrie is in no danger of losing her job and she just signed a multi-year contract.

When Tamron Hall left NBC after the 9 a.m. hour with Al Roker on Today was canceled, she left the network. It’s believed that the cancellation was directly involved with making room for Megyn Kelly and the new program she’ll anchor.

[Featured Image by Mike McGregor/Getty Images for Cantor Fitzgerald]

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