Jenna Bush Hager may have been hosting the Fourth Hour of The Today Show since 2019, but even seasoned pros aren't immune to on-air slip-ups – and this one landed her in hot water.
During Thursday's installment of Today with Jenna & Friends, the NBC star was joined by her fellow anchor Willie Geist. Jenna recalled the first time she met Willie's wife, Christina, and their then three-year-old son, George. However, the host stumbled into a major blunder while recounting the story.
© NBC"Christina goes – I don't know if you can say this – but she was like, 'God, George is acting like an [expletive],'' said Jenna.
Jenna was immediately called out for cursing by the show's producers while her co-host was left visibly shocked. "All of them are like, 'You’re not allowed to say that.' Can you say it one time? No? Sorry. … Everybody's looking at me like, 'Why did you say that?'" she added.
© NBCWillie didn’t hold back as he responded to Jenna's anecdote involving his wife. "No, you can say it zero times. I'm looking at you like, 'Why did you say that?' I'd like to go on the record that my wife never said such a thing about my precious 3-year-old son," he said.
However, Jenna pushed back, insisting that Christina had indeed made the comment. The host then shared that she thought you were allowed one curse word on television – a comment that got her into more trouble.
"I thought you were allowed to say it one time. That’s just Schitt’s Creek?" she said.
© Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty IWillie quickly stepped in to defend his co-star from the crowd’s outbursts. "That’s the title of a show spelled differently. And don’t keep going down the line of expletives. This stops here. And we are live on NBC this morning," he explained.
Jenna appeared visibly flustered by her mistake. "I feel worried like I'm going to get a call from the boss or something," she said.
The NBC star was later reminded to "watch your language" by her co-host. "I'm still stuck in a moment and I'm trying to get out of it. I'm still stuck in a moment, and here's Peter Alexander from the White House coming over to shame me. I was told you could say it one time!" replied Jenna.
© Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty IJenna feared the incident was "ruining my job, ruining my career" and described the shame as "all encompassing".
"I want to be in a shame ball and go eat some Smashburger tacos ... why did I do it? Why did I do it? Where did it come from?" she asked.
