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Kelly Rowland abruptly left NBC‘s Today on Friday, February 16, just minutes before she was set to host the program.
The former Destiny’s Child member and actress was expected to fill in for Jenna Bush Hager as a guest host on last Thursday’s hour-long segment of Today With Hoda & Jenna after appearing as the guest on the 8 am hour of Today. Instead, Rowland left Hoda Kotb scrambling at the last minute to find a replacement after she walked out reportedly expressing dissatisfaction with the state of her dressing room.
“Kelly and her team were not happy. They did not like the dressing room, so they decided to pull her off the show, leaving [Kotb] without a guest host for the 10 a.m. hour,” a source told Page Six.
This unexpected walkout came after Rowland appeared on Today to promote her new Tyler Perry-produced Netflix film Mea Culpa, which she also produced and stars in alongside Trevante Rhodes.
Her sudden exit was especially shocking to the team at Today With Hoda & Jenna because “she’s beloved at Today.”
“She was getting the full hour, and Hoda’s the biggest hype woman on the planet! It made no sense,” the Page Six source added.
When Rowland and her team inquired about changing to a different room upstairs, they were informed that it was being occupied by Jennifer Lopez, who was on the show to promote her new movie, This Is Me… Now. Today producers allegedly offered Rowland other options, including talent dressing rooms and bigger utility makeup and hair areas.
Today is known for having some of the tiniest dressing rooms, with a Page Six source claiming that they are “glorified closets.”
“They’re not nice. It’s the oldest building. There are major space limitations, [it’s] not glamorous. It’s not fresh flowers, and candles and gourmet food. It’s basically [a] white box,” the source said.
Luckily, fellow singer and actress Rita Ora filled in as guest host for the episode, and allegedly took a dressing room that was very similar to the one that Rowland was originally offered.