Tamron Hall is opening up about her exit from NBC following Megyn Kelly’s entrance. To recap, Megyn Kelly left Fox News to join NBC. She was to anchor one of the Today Show’s hour-long blocks. In making that deal, Kelly took over the hour hosted by Tamron Hall and Al Roker.
At the time, it was reported that Tamron Hall learned about NBC’s decision just before going on the air. The Megyn Kelly news made the rounds in late January 2017. On February 1, 2017, Hall announced she was leaving NBC and accordingly, MSNBC. Opening up on her exit, Hall told GMA:
[I was shocked I] ended up just losing it all. You feel like you’ve — you have answered the calls and go in and suddenly you’re not the person they want. And I had to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘but am I still Tamron’ if there’s no name beneath my card, if it doesn’t say a show. And I decided I’m still Tamron.
After a period of reflection, Tamron Hall stepped away from live television. As she shared with the ABC morning show, she had not been on live television in two-and-a-half years when she came on for the interview.
Tamron Hall also talked about what turned out to be her last week at Today. Her contract was expiring as Megyn Kelly was being brought onto the network. Hall talked about her busy schedule and dedication to the network during her last week on Today, only to be told about NBC’s decision, Hall said:
The last week I was on Today, I filled in for Savannah Guthrie, who’d gone on maternity leave. I filled in for Lester Holt [on NBC Nightly News], all while I was doing my MSNBC show plus shooting Deadline Crime. So I’m putting in all the work and then I’m told, ‘It doesn’t matter that you came in every time we called. We want something else.’ I wasn’t that ‘something else.'
Tamron Hall had been a co-anchor on the third hour of Today since 2014. So, she had been there for three years when NBC handed that hour to Megyn Kelly. In her interview, Hall also said that Kelly got an offer she could not refuse, whereas NBC gave Hall an offer she could. Hall has been moving forward since.
When Tamron Hall decided to leave, she did not get a big farewell sendoff by Today, as previous hosts who exited the show got. Today viewers last saw her on a Tuesday and just like that she was gone from the show. Hall’s former co-host on the Today hour did address her exit on the show.
Despite NBC’s decision to replace Al Roker and Tamron Hall’s hour with one hosted by Megyn Kelly, Roker decided to stay at Today. Following Hall’s exit, he talked about Hall’s departure on the morning show by wishing her the best.
Since leaving, Tamron Hall has persevered, carving out a new life for herself. Two years after her 2017 exit at the network, Hall is now a wife, mother, and soon-to-be talk show host. Her new self-titled syndicated talk show is heading for television this fall. Tamron Hall will premiere on September 9, 2019, per Deadline.
The Today Show’s third hour is also recovering. Four months ago, NBC revealed who the hosts replacing Megyn Kelly would be. They announced that Hour 3 would be hosted by Sheinelle Jones, Dylan Dreyer, Al Roker, and Craig Melvin. Meanwhile, the fourth hour of Today saw the departure of Kathie Lee Gifford. When it comes to morning television, things are always changing.
