Farewell, friend! Hours after Tamron Hall officially announced her departure from NBC and MSNBC — which followed the network canceling her hour of the Today show with Al Roker to make room for its newly acquired star Megyn Kelly — Roker addressed his coanchor’s exit during the Today show on Thursday, February 2. Watch what he said in the video above.
“As some of you may have heard by now, our good friend Tamron Hall has decided to leave NBC News,” the veteran weatherman, 62, said. “Personally, Tamron has been not just a cohost on Today for the past three years, but a good friend — and to not just me, but to all of us here. We want to wish her nothing but the best, much continued success, and we cannot wait to see what her next chapter is.”
According to an insider, Hall, 46, who’s been with NBC Universal since 2007, was told about the shake-up only “minutes before going on the air on Friday.” The source told Us, “She was a wreck in commercial breaks and couldn’t believe the company would tell her just before going live on MSNBC. It was especially surprising after receiving an email of praise from the coexecutive producer just days before about how they were No. 1 in the ratings for seven weeks in a row.”
Still, the journalist left things on a positive note. “The last 10 years have been beyond anything I could have imagined, and I’m grateful,” she said in a statement. “I’m also very excited about the next chapter. To all my great colleagues, I will miss you and I will be rooting for you.”
The network also addressed her exit in a press release on Wednesday. “Tamron Hall will be leaving NBC News and MSNBC when her contract expires this month,” the company said in a statement. “[January 31] was her last day as an anchor on both networks. 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.”
