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Tamron Hall, Kelly Ripa and More Morning TV Hosts Blindsided by Their Networks

Behind-the-scenes drama! Tamron Hall wasn’t the first morning-TV host to be blindsided by her employer. Kelly Ripa, Ann Curry and more went through network shake-ups that played out in public for the world to see. Look back in the video above – and listen to their emotional on-camera exits!

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As previously reported, Hall, 46, decided to leave NBC and MSNBC after learning that her 9 a.m. Today show slot with Al Roker was replaced with a show for newcomer Megyn Kelly. A source told Us Weekly that Hall found out just “minutes before going on-air Friday.”

Related: PHOTOS: Talk Show Controversies and Feuds: The Biggest Ever

“Tamron is an exceptional journalist. We valued and enjoyed her work at Today and MSNBC and hoped that she would decide to stay. We are disappointed that she has chosen to leave, but we wish her all the best,” NBC told Us in a statement on Wednesday. 

Tamron Hall and Kelly Ripa
Tamron Hall and Kelly Ripa

Last spring, Ripa, 46, was also given short notice about her cohost Michael Strahan’s decision to leave Live With Kelly and Michael for a full-time gig at Good Morning America. In April 2016, The New York Times reported that Ripa was “told of the move just minutes before the announcement.” The soap star took a sick day and addressed the situation after taking a prescheduled vacation.

Related: PHOTOS: Today Show's Biggest and Most Memorable Moments

“I gained some perspective. I always speak from the heart. I didn’t want to come out here and just, like, say something I might regret,” she said on the April 26 episode. “So what transpired, though, over the course of a few days has been extraordinary in the sense that it started a much greater conversation about communication and consideration and, most importantly, respect in the workplace.” Strahan would later leave early in May, four months before his scheduled departure.

Like Hall, Ann Curry also was booted from the Today show. In January 2012, she left after reportedly butting heads with Matt Lauer. “For all of you who saw me as a groundbreaker, I’m sorry I couldn’t carry the ball over the finish line,” she tearfully said to the audience at the time. “But man, I did try.” She’d remain at NBC as a correspondent for two years before leaving in January 2015.

Long before Curry, Jane Pauley was given her walking papers as well. Pauley was replaced by Deborah Norville in 1990 after 13 years. One year later, Norville — on maternity leave at the time — was replaced by Katie Couric. Couric ended her 15-year gig in 2006, but often returns to guest-host.

Another TV personality that had an awkward exit? ABC’s The View said goodbye to political commentator Nicolle Wallace in 2015 after just one season. 

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