Jenna Bush Hager, Hoda Kotb Cry Over ‘Depression Stage’ of Hoda’s Exit

Jenna Bush Hager’s holiday plans with Hoda Kotb are making her emotional about her cohost’s upcoming Today departure.

The duo got into a discussion about party guest etiquette on the Tuesday, December 10, episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna, during which Bush Hager, 43, said she’ll be curious to see if Kotb, 60, will leave early from an impending holiday party.(One day prior, Kotb opened up about choosing to stay for the entirety of an NFL game she attended on Sunday, December 8.)

“What I’d like to do is videotape Hoda when she’s least expecting it, which I probably will forget to do ‘cause you know I leave my phone on a table and never look again,” Bush Hager explained. “But I want to just pay attention like an anthropologist, a social anthropologist.”

According to Bush Hager, she’s in the “studying” phase of losing Kotb. “I’d like to study your behaviors tonight and see how you’ve changed,” she told her fellow TV personality.

Bush Hager’s comments struck a chord with Kotb, and the two women proceeded to burst into tears on air. “What’s happening? Is this the depression stage?” Bush Hager quipped, prompting Kotb and the show’s off-camera crew to cackle.

Bush Hager went on to hilariously recount the stages of grief she’s experienced so far while dealing with Kotb’s impending Today exit. “Denial lasted a good month. Anger was last week when I tried to make you jealous with Gayle [King],” she remarked. “I’ve bargained with God basically every night for the last couple months. And now, I’ve hit depression, where she says one thing and [I cry].”

Bush Hager and Kotb have shared many emotional moments together on Today over the years, including Kotb’s September announcement of her plans to leave the NBC morning show. Following her final show on January 10, 2025, Craig Melvin will take over Kotb’s role as Savannah Guthrie’s coanchor. Hoda & Jenna will continue as Today With Jenna & Friends featuring Bush Hager and a series of guest hosts until a permanent replacement is picked.

“You’re who I come to when I’m feeling joyful, when I’m feeling unsure. You are who I come to and you believed in me first,” Bush Hager told her longtime cohost on the September 26 episode of Hoda & Jenna. “We have a lot of bosses and I love them, but this lady, on October 28, 2013 — I looked it up — said, ‘Hey, wanna come sit next to me? There’s room.’”

Kotb returned the kind words, telling Bush Hager, “Whoever sits in this seat is going to have the easiest job in the world ’cause they’re sitting next to you. The only thing they have to do is not laugh so hard they pee their pants. That’s it. They just have to hang on.”

Earlier this month, Bush Hager compared her feelings about Kotb’s Today exit to the feeling of getting dumped on her “Open Book with Jenna” podcast. “When everybody’s like, ‘Oh, my God! Congratulations,’ it’s like, ‘I feel like I’ve been dumped,’” she admitted. “Not really, you know, ‘cause she’s choosing herself. I get that. But my heart is broken a little.”

Her podcast guest Matt Rogers validated her feelings by stating: “You can’t help but think about what it does to you. I mean, like, of course, this is an amazing moment in someone else’s life, but you’re a human being, and it’s hard.”