I wanted to raise something that MK Media’s Maureen Callahan has been talking about on her show The Nerve that resonated so strongly with me. I have been telling you all the stuff from the Today show about how ‘we’re family’ isn’t true. There is no question that I have an ax to grind with these people, as you know. I have a bias here, so you can factor that into my analysis. But it is not true.
There are a bunch of backstabbers over there. Nobody likes anybody. They may go out to lunch with you, they may have dinner, or they could even vacation with you. But trust me when I tell you, they are all planting stories about one another behind their backs. And if their neck is on the chopping block, they make sure somebody else takes it.
I am not saying everybody is bad; I am saying the relations between them are fraught and very nasty. And everybody is on guard because they all want their precious seat, and they don’t want anybody else to get it. The knives are always out. Network news is a vicious, vicious place, way more so than cable.
Dueling Posts
To that point, Maureen noted that on the Sheinelle Jones and Jenna Bush Hager show, which I didn’t know existed, everything is wonderful. They are all such happy ‘friends’ and ‘family,’ and they did a segment on Thursday with actress Adrienne Bailon-Houghton. Apparently Sheinelle had an encounter with Adrienne Bailon-Houghton’s mom, who was also on set, after her husband tragically passed away last year.
And on the TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle Instagram page, they decided to post a clip of Sheinelle greeting this actress’ mom backstage. Here’s the post:
That was the voice of Hugh Grant from the movie Love Actually in the background saying, “If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find love actually is all around,” as the two women embrace. And the caption that someone at the Today show wrote is, “Nothing beats a mom hug. 🩷 Sheinelle shares that Adrienne Bailon-Houghton’s mom comforted her in the days after Uche’s passing. They reunited in Studio 1A today. 🫂”
That same day, Savannah Guthrie posted this to her personal Instagram page about her missing mom:
It is a video of a much younger Nancy Guthrie. She looks absolutely beautiful with her two daughters, Annie and Savannah, dressed alike. And it ends on a still shot of Nancy with her three children in a black and white. Savannah’s caption was, “Our lovely mom. 💛 We will never give up on her. Thank you for your prayers and hope.”
She is suffering quite clearly, and this is what her colleagues do? “Nothing beats a mom hug.” I’m sorry, network television is a vicious, thoughtless, heartless, nasty place, and you should not be misled into thinking you are watching loving, wonderful people. It is not what they would have you believe, and I just think that it was a despicable oversight or an intentional move. I don’t know. At some point, someone is going to have to take responsibility for it and say, ‘I did a thoughtless thing, and I’m deeply sorry.’
Don’t Be Fooled
Everything is a manipulation. Just keep that in mind, and don’t let them manipulate you. What Savannah is going through is a genuinely awful, horrible tragedy. Everything that is happening on the set of that show is theater.
I believe that Tom Winter, the reporter they are using for reporting on this case, is an honest reporter who is doing his very best to stick to just the facts and to not get ahead of his skis on anything out of respect for the family. He hasn’t been perfect, but I think he tries his best to stay factual. I trust his reporting. As for the propaganda that gets pushed out on their evening news or their morning news shows, beware and don’t buy it. “Nothing beats a mom hug” was pretty damn heartless.
Having said all that, that is a true sentiment. And for those of us who are lucky enough to have them here and well, live up to it. I am sure Savannah would want that from all of us.
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,252 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.