Today Show’s Jenna Bush Hager commends Jimmy Kimmel while comparing drama to family
Today Show’s Jenna Bush Hager praised Jimmy Kimmel’s return following his suspension on ABC, even comparing the drama to her famous family and how they dealt with backlash
Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones talked about Jimmy Kimmel’s return to ABC during NBC’s Today Show
Jenna Bush Hager, star of the Today Show‘s Today with Jenna & Friends, praised Jimmy Kimmel‘s return following his suspension on ABC last week.
Bush Hager began the show’s Sept. 24 episode by discussing the situation with Sheinelle Jones, calling Kimmel’s opening monologue during his return episode on Sept. 23 “beautifully done.” After Jones said the theme was “forgiveness all over,” Bush Hager pointed out she can’t wait to get back to an America where people who have different opinions “sit at the same table and have conversations.”
Jones also said that as TV personalities, you never want to say the wrong thing because of all the staff behind you, relying on you to feed their families. This brought the 43-year-old to a point she didn’t plan on saying on TV. She compared Kimmel’s situation to her famous family and how they dealt with backlash.
“I wasn’t even going to say this,” she began before stating, “So, Dana Carvey played my grandpa on Saturday Night Live.” Jones asked if they watched it.
Jenna Bush Hager opened up about her family while discussing Jimmy Kimmel’s return on the Today Show
Bush Hager said, “Not when he was president because I was young and I remember reading stuff about him where I was like, ‘Oh, gosh.’ Like as a little kid, like, ‘That hurts’ and ‘That’s not the man I know.’ And that’s part of the job.”
She continued, “But anyway, Dana Carvey played my grandpa, and after he lost, which my grandfather was devastated. Like he felt like he didn’t finish the job. He felt like he let down his staff in the way that you’re exactly speaking of. He had Dana come to the White House to make fun of him, after he lost, so that he could cheer up his staff who were disappointed upon the results.”
The TV host added, “We laughed hysterically at some of it, and I think that’s part of it too, is that you can’t take yourself so seriously.”
Jimmy Kimmel returned to ABC on Sept. 23(Image: Disney via Getty Images)
Carvey and former President George H.W. Bush had an unexpected friendship that started after Bush lost his bid for re-election in 1992. CBS News writes that Bush invited Carvey to the White House as a “pick-me-up for the staff.”
Bush recalled, “He said, ‘I hope I’ve never crossed the line,’ and I knew exactly what he meant, and as far as I’m concerned, he never has. And the fact that we can laugh at each other is a very fundamental thing.”
Kimmel nearly broke down in tears at least twice during his opening monologue during his return to ABC on Sept. 24. First, when he told the audience that “it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” in reference to what he said about Charlie Kirk’s killing. He also grew emotional as he praised Charlie’s widow, Erika Kirk, for saying she forgives her husband’s killer.
Elsewhere in his speech, Kimmel said, “But I don’t wanna make this about me because – and I know this is what people say when they make things about them – but I really don’t. This show is not important. What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”
