Months after her father, George W. Bush, and Ellen DeGeneres were spotted sitting next to each other at an NFL game, Today show co-anchor Jenna Bush Hager is speaking out about the controversy that followed. Appearing on Wednesday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen alongside Hoda Kotb, Hager addressed the backlash, admitting that she initially didn’t pay much attention to it.
“Well, I mean, I had just had a baby so to be totally honest I didn’t pay that much attention to it,” Hager, who is mom to daughters, Margaret, 6, and Poppy, 4, and 6-month-old son Hal, said, according to Entertainment Tonight.
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“But I do think that people can have different beliefs and still be friends,” she added. “And I also think decency and humanity should be at the basis of all conversations.”
DeGeneres had faced backlash after she was seen chatting it up with the former president during the Dallas Cowboys’ game against the Green Bay Packers in October. Many people had slammed the outing, citing the talk show host’s landmark decision to come out as gay in 1997 and Bush’s record of anti-LGBTQ+ policies. The outing proved so controversial that it was even the topic of a question asked the fourth Democratic primary debate that same month.
DeGeneres eventually addressed the criticism on her talk show, calling for tolerance.
“Here’s the thing: I’m friends with George Bush. In fact, I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have. We’re all different and I think that we’ve forgotten that we’re all different,” she said. “For instance, I wish people wouldn’t wear fur. I don’t like it, but I’m friends with people who wear fur and I’m friends with people who are furry, as a matter of fact.”
“But just because I don’t agree with someone on everything doesn’t mean I’m not gonna be friends with them,” DeGeneres continued. “When I say ‘be kind to one another,’ I don’t mean only the people that think the same way you do. I mean be kind to everyone. It doesn’t matter.”
As celebrities began to add their voices to the debate, some praising the friendship while others joined fans in criticizing it, Hager, in an interview with PEOPLE in November, said that she thought the friendship was “great.”
“My dad likes people that think differently than him, that believe differently, and people are surprised by this,” she said. “But my parents raised both [twin sister] Barbara and I to have our own opinions.”
“I personally, and I think so many of us, miss a time where people who have different opinions get along. And I yearn for that,” she added. “I want my kids to realize that we live in a world when people are think tons of different things and we treat everybody with respect and kindness.”
