There wasn’t a dry eye in the studio as Jason Segel put into words what millions of people are likely feeling about the soon-to-exit Today anchor Hoda Kotb.
Segel was on the NBC morning show promoting the latest season of his Apple TV+ series Shrinking on Wednesday (October 16). In a now-viral moment, as Kotb was wrapping up the interview, Segel shared he was going to miss her.
“And I’m going to miss you when you’re gone,” Segel told Kotb, who began tearing up. “I just want you to know these interviews have been some of the best of my whole career, so I’m really grateful to know you.”
A taken aback Kotb placed her hand over her chest with a big smile as her eyes welled. “Wow… thanks,” Kotb said as she burst into tears.
Kotb handed things over to co-host Savannah Guthrie, who was teasing an interview with Eddie Redmayne, but made sure to acknowledge there was “a big hug going on over there.” Indeed, the moving moment concluded with Kotb and Segal sharing a heartwarming hug.
The Today show shared the clip on their Instagram page getting more than 100,000 likes. It was captioned: “Who’s cutting onions in here? So much love for Hoda in Studio 1A!.”
Fans flooded the comments section, moved by the actor’s kind words and agreeing that the absence of Kotb will be felt during coffee-guzzling, 10:00 a.m. cable TV sessions nationwide.
“Telling people exactly how you feel about them is a magical way of living,” a top comment read with more than 22,000 likes.
“He’s right. Hoda has always been a smart, classy and respectful interviewer,” another fan wrote.
“Hoda was speechless. I never saw that. Love her,” wrote a third.
“She’s always just so kind and graceful. And she remembers people. She connects with you and sees you. She will be missed,” wrote a fourth.
“The way you can see how his words touched her in her expression,” wrote a fifth.
“Just so we’re clear this is the real Jason. I met him in person and he is one of the top five nicest people I’ve ever met in my whole entire life,” another of the many, many sweet comments read.
In a memo to staffers last month, Kotb announced she would leave The Today Show in 2025 to focus on her family.
“I’ve been weighing this decision for quite a while – Am I truly ready? But, my sixtieth birthday celebration on the Plaza felt like a shift. Like a massive, joyful YES, you are!” read the memo. “I saw it all so clearly: my broadcast career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie.”
Kotb is mother to two daughters, Haley Joy, seven, and Hope Catherine, four, both of whom she adopted.
The beloved anchor, who replaced Matt Lauer in 2018 alongside Guthrie (making for the first all-female anchor desk in morning show history) was also facing significant pay cuts when she decided to exit gracefully.
According to an October 16 Variety piece, Kotb’s significant salary decrease was estimated to put her in the $10 million-$15 million-a-year range (closer to Guthrie’s reported $8 million). As the outlet wrote: “For sure, it was Kotb’s call to leave Today, but the promise of having to absorb a substantial pay cut may well have accelerated her timeline.”
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