‘Today’ Anchor Jenna Bush Hager Speaks out About Being Arrested

Jenna Bush Hager hasn’t always been a good girl, depending on who you ask. The Today show anchor has had her fair share of run-ins with the law in her early 20s.

Bush Hager, who admittedly grew up with strict parents, says she rebelled against her rigid upbringing. And it forced her to straighten up. 

The 43-year-old took some time to reflect on her past legal issues during the Monday, August 11, episode of the Today show while discussing a viral TikTok trend video during the “Morning Boost” segment. “This is for anyone who thinks they were raised by strict parents. May I introduce you to Ashley Hicks?” she said. “She caught the attention of millions online, sharing her experiences growing up with her dad, who just happened to be a Secret Service agent. She shares the typical teenage experiences that many got away with, but she never could.”

The journalist says she understood Hicks since she spent much of her life under the watchful eye of the Secret Service during her father, President George W. Bush’s, administration. Her father served in the White House from 2001 to 2009, when she was 19 to 27 years old.

“Listen, Ashley. I, too, couldn’t get away with much because I was followed by men with fanny packs that were concealing things,” she claimed, until her co-host, Craig Melvin, offered another explanation. “I recall reading articles many years ago about you getting away with a fair amount,” he said.

But she says she endured extreme punishment. “I was arrested! There’s a mugshot that says I didn’t get away with it,” she said. “No, I wasn’t really arrested like that.”

In 2001, Bush Hager was arrested twice within two months, receiving one misdemeanor charge for possession of alcohol under the age of 21 in Texas. She also caught another misdemeanor charge for using a fake ID to buy alcohol. She pleaded no contest to both counts.

She clarified the arrests in a previous episode of the show in 2023. “I wasn’t even arrested; I was never detained,” she added. “I just got a minor in possession of alcohol when I was 20 years old because I ordered a margarita at Chuy’s with a fake ID.”