Prince’s longtime friend Tamron Hall was pulled from appearing on NBC’s Nightly News after the late “Purple Rain” crooner’s cause of death was revealed on Thursday, June 2, according to Page Six.
The site reports that the Today show cohost, 45, who was supposed to fill in for Nightly News anchor Lester Holt on Thursday and Friday night, made a mutual decision with NBC to cancel her two-night gig.
“Tamron and NBC News execs discussed it and decided together it was best for her not to fill in [Thursday or Friday],” a source tells Page Six. “She’s been open about her friendship with Prince, so for her, this is more than a news story. She’ll fill in again soon.”
NBC has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The pop icon’s death was the result of “self-administered" Fentanyl toxicity, according to the medical examiner’s office. Prince died after he was found unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park compound in Chanhassen, Minnesota, on April 21, at age 57. As previously reported, he had Percocet in his system at the time of his death.
One day after Prince passed away, Hall — who had a years-long friendship with the singer and appeared on the cover art for his 2015 single “If Eye Could Get Ur Attention” — opened up about her last conversation with the seven-time Grammy winner.
"We talked for hours Monday, and I said he did not sound sick. He assured me he was okay. All Saturday he kept saying he was fine and asked me to come to Paisley to see his new piano and for a fan party. I was working and didn't go,” she recounted on the Today show. “Monday, we exchanged emails after I sent him a video from a restaurant playing a song. I talked about how he was everywhere I go. It was a sweet moment and I had no idea it would be our last time talking. I never imagined it."
