Hoda Kotb Signs Off of Today

ABLUpdated 5 hours Ago6 Mins read0

Photo: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images

Today didn’t just send off its longtime host with any old celebration — Hoda Kotb’s final episode was a Hoda-bration. Kotb helmed the daytime show’s fourth hour, Today With Hoda & Jenna, for the final time on January 10, along with an emotional parade of guests dubbed the “Hoda-bration.” “Brought to you by Kleenex,” co-host Jenna Bush Hager joked at the beginning of the tearful hour.

The tributes kicked off at the beginning of the week, when dozens of Kotb’s Tri Delta sorority sisters surprised her on the show. Guests like Andy Cohen and Blake Shelton honored Kotb throughout the week, with Cohen even calling her the “best head of hair on television.” And when her final day rolled around, the Hoda-bration wasn’t just confined to the fourth hour, stretching into the whole Today block.

Kotb signed off Today by joining fans in the show’s iconic plaza. “Can I just say thank you to every person who came out here?” she said. “I read your cards. I got your bracelets. I got the scarves you crocheted. I read the texts. I got everything. So I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for coming out, for being here and for everything you did.” Later, on Today With Hoda & Jenna, she read a “love letter” to fans in a pretaped segment. “How do I say thank you for more hugs and more love than one person deserves?” Kotb said. She went on to add, “I’ve become who I am on this hour of this show, and you were there with me every step of the way.” At the end of the episode, Kotb and her two daughters, Hope and Haley, drove off in her minivan, sporting a “Just Repotted” sign. The former newscaster is planning a new wellness-focused project after Today, along with hoping to spend more time with her daughters, who are 8 and 5.

NBC colleagues, old friends, and even Kermit the Frog showed up for Today’s Hoda-bration. Below, all the tributes to Kotb from the broadcast.

Jenna Bush Hager

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Bush Hager read a letter to her co-host in a pretaped segment, reflecting on their six years of hosting together. “Hoda, you have been a teacher,” Bush Hager said, continuing:

You have taught me how to find the joy in the small: a stupid lemon hack that doesn’t even work. The hilarity of answering Social Ds for Joe, and Tom, and Sally. You have taught me that a Polar Plunge doesn’t actually mean plunging. That delight can come in the form of a minivan with electronic doors. How to create a hit Christmas song. (It charted, if only for a day.) You taught me that an apple is a perfectly good baby present. You have taught me to look, really look, into the eyes and the hearts of our guests, and to listen, how to really listen. And now, my dearest, you are teaching us the most important lesson of all: how to say good-bye with grace.

Kathie Lee Gifford

january 10, 2025 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/biTBv2h036

— kathie lee and hoda no context (@KLGH_nocontext) January 10, 2025

Kotb’s first Today co-host said good-bye to her in a video message, apologizing for missing the festivities because she’s “very busy, very important — not.” Then Bush Hager said, “You know what, that’s a lie” and introduced Gifford, live and in person. “I was thinking to myself, I sure hope Kath comes,” Kotb said. The pair danced to their theme song and shared a final morning-wine toast together. “I think what I want to send her off with, which is what she knows, from my heart, means the most to me, is that I’m sending you off with a prayer,” Gifford said, before reading a Bible verse. “May you walk into the most joyful, prosperous, purposeful time in your life, with those precious daughters that I watched come into your life,” Gifford said.

Kermit the Frog

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Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie teased a guest “who really wanted to wish you well” before bringing out none other than Kermit the Frog. The Muppet honored Kotb with a performance of “Rainbow Connection,” which she sings to her daughters every night. “Hoda, you truly do make every day as beautiful as a rainbow, which kind of sounds like a song cue,” Kermit said.

Simone Biles

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On top of being a TV host, Kotb is a gymnastics superfan and has covered multiple Olympics through her Today gig. So gold medalist Simone Biles surprised her “Olympic mom” in person at her final episode. “I don’t have a gold medal, but this feels pretty dad-gone good right now,” a shocked Kotb said.

“I’ve been coming to the Today show for years and sharing vulnerable stories, which Hoda has given us such a great platform to be open and raw and to just feel like a safe space,” Biles said. “So I appreciate all you’ve done for us to allow us to tell our stories.”

Gayle King

Bush Hager teased that she “held a Hoda look-alike contest” before inviting out the “winner,” King. “I am so excited to be here because it has been such a hard week for all of us and what’s happening in the country,” King said. “We needed celebration, we needed somebody to celebrate, of course it has to be you.” She then gave Kotb a T-shirt with her face, labeled “Hoda,” on the front, and King’s face, labeled “Not Hoda,” on the back. “Everywhere I go, people stop me and say, ‘Hoda, good luck on your next chapter, we’re so happy for you, say hi to Jenna,’” King said, adding that it’s “such a compliment” to be mistaken for Kotb.

Sameha Kotb

Between the famous faces, Kotb’s own mother, Sameha, shared a video message. Sameha remembered encouraging her daughter throughout her career, from her beginnings working at the Virginia Tech radio station. “Hodie, I’m proud of you, and I’m sure you’ll be doing great work later on, and I love you so much,” Sameha said.

Oprah Winfrey

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“I know what making this decision feels like,” the TV legend told Kotb in a video message. “I will assure you that yes, you have made the right move, although it has been very hard to do.”

Jamie Lee Curtis

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The Oscar winner couldn’t honor Kotb in person due to the Los Angeles wildfires. Still, she gifted Kotb “one of my orbs” with the message “Every today is a better day with you” on it. “Thank you for being such a shining example to all of us of what’s really important,” Curtis said in a video message.

Jimmy Fallon

Kotb’s longtime NBC colleague Jimmy Fallon sent her off with a piece of 30 Rock — literally, giving her a framed piece of NBC carpet cut out of the elevator. “When you get this job, the magic of this building, you see that and you go, ‘I hope I don’t get fired,’” Fallon joked.

Her Today co-anchors

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Guthrie said all the Today co-anchors’ tributes to Kotb came back to the word love. “Hoda, I love you deeply,” Guthrie said. “Whether you’re sitting next to me or not. Whether we’re waking up at four o’clock in the morning together or not, I will always be by your side, and you will always be by mine.” Al Roker said he would miss seeing his dressing-room neighbor every morning. “But you know what?” he said. “You, Hope, and Haley get to come out of your rooms and see each other every morning. And so, how can I be sad?” Carson Daly and Craig Melvin both complimented Kotb’s interviews, with Melvin saying, “Hoda doesn’t do interviews. She has conversations.”

Walker Hayes

The country singer serenaded Kotb on her last episode with a song they wrote together, “Wednesdays.” Kotb reflected on the conversation that inspired the song. “I said, ‘Most days are just Wednesdays, regular days,’” she remembered. “If you love your Wednesdays, you’ll love your life.” After Hayes’s acoustic performance, Kotb added, “I feel like that’s what I love the most about our show. They’ve just been like, Wednesdays — every day has been a good Wednesday.”

Maria Shriver

Kotb’s former Dateline co-anchor and often substitute co-host on Today helped Kotb through her decision to leave Today and showed up on the final episode to wish her well. “I feel a little bit like I’ve been there while you grew up,” Shriver said. She applauded Kotb for finding “a voice” on Today. “You were brave enough to say, ‘I think I want to follow this voice of mine into the unknown. I want to leave one of the greatest jobs in television, and I want to take a leap,’” Shriver said. “Very few people will do that, and it’s so brave.”

Today staff

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Kotb went out to the Today plaza through a “tunnel of love” made up of Today staffers. Later, she signed off Today With Hoda & Jenna joined by the show’s entire staff onstage. “You are loved,” Bush Hager told her.