Maya Rudolph certainly left an impression on Jenna Bush Hager when she recently visited Today With Hoda & Jenna to promote her Apple TV+ series Loot.
Hoda Kotb was sadly not around during the broadcast to see Rudolph, a fact that Bush Hager made sure to gloat about on Today.
Bush Hager dished on her experience interviewing Rudolph. “I loved her so much,” Bush Hager said. She added that she accidentally cursed at Rudolph without checking to see if they were still on the air. “Like, ‘I blanking love you,’ and then I thought, ‘Oh no, am I on TV? Because my mom is not going to be happy with that.’”
She continued, “Then [Rudolph] said, ‘I love you!’… She was like, I can’t believe you just said that, I love you. And I’m sorry Hoda, but I love her. Does that make you feel left out?”
Kotb did not seem phased as she admitted that she also loved the actress. But Bush Hager wasn’t buying it.
“No, I don’t think you have a connection like we have,” she teased. “Well since I’ve been here, it’s only been five years so I’ve never seen y’all really connect the way Maya and I did.”
She then accused Kotb of “lying” after her co-host insinuated that she had her cell phone number. “Maya, she’s lying now… I didn’t ask for it but she would have given it to me,” Bush Hager said. “If someone says I love you that usually means, ‘Call me, let’s stay in touch. Why don’t we go out and have coffee or a beverage?’”
She then jokingly apologized for “striking a nerve” with Kotb.
They tried to move on with the segment, but Bush Hager later brought up another petty rivalry she has when Kotb explained that actress Hannah Waddingham told her that she was a fan of Today with Hoda & Jenna.
“Well, did she say that in front of Savannah [Guthrie]?” Bush Hager asked, referring to Kotb’s other Today co-host. “I was gonna say, that could have been kind of mean.”
The bizarre statement made even Kotb laugh in shock. “Why is this getting awkward? Why are you trying to pit people against each other? You already did with Maya and now with Savannah,” she pointed out.
But Bush Hager denied that she was “pitting” anybody against each other.
“Savannah is my friend and yours, and Maya is my friend, but not quite yours. Not on the same level, I know she’s friendly with you, but not the same,” she said.
Today with Hoda and Jenna airs on weekdays at 10/9c on NBC.
