Hoda Kotb Left Struggling After Kelly Rowland Abruptly Walks Off 'Today' Set
Rowland's team pulled her off the show after being dissatisfied with the dressing rooms.
Kelly Rowland made a dramatic exit from NBC's Today show on Thursday morning, reportedly due to dissatisfaction with her dressing room. After she appeared as a guest on the 8 a.m. hour of Today, it was expected that the R&B singer and actress would fill in for Jenna Bush Hager during the fourth hour as the guest host of Today with Hoda & Jenna.
Rowland, however, bowed out at the last minute due to an inadequate dressing room, leaving Hoda Kotb scrambling for a replacement, sources told Page Six.
"Kelly and her team were not happy. They did not like the dressing room, so they decided to pull her off the show, leaving [Kotb] without a guest host for the 10 a.m. hour," Page Six's reporting cited a source familiar with the matter. Rowland was there to promote her upcoming Netflix movie, Mea Culpa, a Tyler Perry-produced film in which she stars and is also a producer.
Rowland's sudden departure puzzled "Today" insiders because "She's beloved at 'Today.' She was getting the full hour, and Hoda's the biggest hype woman on the planet! It made no sense," a source said. Rowland and her team were reportedly playing an elaborate game of "musical dressing rooms," said the outlet.
Inquiries were made about the green room upstairs since "they didn't like the one she was in." However, Jennifer Lopez took over the upstairs room prior to Rowland's arrival to promote her new album, This Is Me... Now, along with her accompanying film, The Greatest Love Story Never Told.
One source described the dressing rooms at Today as "glorified closets," as they are among the smallest in the TV industry. "They're not nice. It's the oldest building. There are major space limitations, [it's] not glamorous. It's not fresh flowers, and candles, and gourmet food. It's basically [a] white box," the TV source shared.
Despite this, Page Six reports that Today producers offered Rowland several other options, including larger utility makeup and hair areas and multiple talent dressing rooms. "They didn't want that. [The show] basically offered up as much as possible, but they weren't happy with it, so they walked and they left," the insider said.
When none of the rooms were alleged to meet Rowland's expectations, Kotb and the Today show colleagues frantically searched for a replacement. Finally, they settled on Rita Ora, who had already been booked and "volunteered." Ora confirmed she was asked to fill in as a guest co-host on Instagram Friday.
"Well, this happened!" the "Ritual" singer, 33, captioned photos and videos of her co-hosting experience. "We had two minutes to prepare ahhh, thank you [hodaandjenn]a for asking me to co-host the show…"
Ora continued by praising the Today show staff, saying, "Everyone was so lovely and kind, I had SO much fun doing it!! Love to everyone that tuned in, maybe we should do more??!!!"
In response, Kotb took to Instagram to commend the "Praising You" singer. "We manifested— and it will happen @ritaora," wrote the journalist, 59, captioning a slideshow of the episode. "What a talent!" Neither Rowland nor her representatives have addressed the incident.
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