EXCLUSIVEHoda Kotb Accused of Exploiting Her Daughter's Private Health Struggles in Upcoming Children's Book: Source
Hoda Kotb, who co-hosts the Today show, is under fire at NBC, as she's being accused of exploiting her daughter's private health struggles in her her upcoming children's book, Hope Is a Rainbow, an insider exclusively tells OK!.
“In a shocking move, Hoda’s new book's inspiration is her youngest daughter, Hope, and her undisclosed health crisis. But her Today show colleagues aren't buying into the narrative,” an insider reveals. “Many are left with a sour taste in their mouths, questioning whether this is a genuine expression of maternal love or a calculated strategy to capitalize on a personal struggle.”
As OK! previously reported, the journalist, 59, was missing from the Today show and later revealed it was due to Hope, whom she adopted in 2019, falling ill.
“My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU for a few days and in the hospital for a little more than a week,” Kotb, who also shares daughter Haley with ex Joel Schiffman, said in March. “I’m so grateful she’s home. She is back home. I was waiting for that day to come. And we are watching her closely. I’m just so happy.”
“I’m grateful for the doctors at Weill Cornell who were amazing and the nurses," she continued. "And I’m grateful to my family, and I’m grateful to friends like you who were there every single day. So, I want to say thank you for that. I love you.”
Kotb used what she went through to write Hope Is a Rainbow, which comes out in March 2024.
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“My daughter Hope is so inspiring to me,” the TV star told TODAY.com. “She’s a little child, but with a real kind of old spirit, an old soul. There’s something about her in how she sees magic in everything.”
“She has taught me that you’re stronger than you think you are. She has that ability to be optimistic and hopeful no matter what kind of challenges lay before you,” she added. “She’s taught me that resilience comes in all kinds of packages and that kids are incredibly strong. She’s also taught me to find wonder in the smallest things.”
