NEWSHoda Kotb & Jenna Bush Hager Hilariously Debate 'Gaslighting' On 'Today'
Dec. 22 2022, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
It’s the Merriam-Webster word of the year … and a hot topic on the Today show!
Earlier this week, longtime cohosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager got into a hilarious on-air spat surrounding the definition of the word “Gaslighting” — and whether Hager did it to her morning show colleague.
”You did gaslight me one time,” Kotb quipped to her co-host, a sentiment that seemingly took Hager aback.
“I gaslit you?” she replied in disbelief, sparking a smattering of laughter from the show’s studio audience. “Wait what?”
The Daytime Emmy winner then took a moment, giggling as she recounted the exact moment the former first daughter gaslit her — an incident she said occurred on their beloved morning program.
“So one of the games we played, you went over the time to decorate the cookie, or whatever it was,” Kotb recalled to a stunned Hager. “And then I said ‘you went over the time’ and you said ‘no, I didn’t, no I didn't.’”
Though Kotb insisted that her competitor had, in fact, exceeded the time limit — “I was like ‘well you did because it went ‘ding’ and then it was over,’” she said — the anchor claimed that Hager tried to convince the crew and audience that such was not the case.
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“And then you were like ‘Guys, did I? Did I? I did not. I did not, I stayed within the rules!’” the mom-of-two joked. “So, gaslighting is when you know it’s not true but you keep going until the other person thinks they’re crazy.”
Despite offering the definition, it seems Hager wasn’t fully convinced she gaslit Kotb. “I don’t think I tried to make you feel crazy, that’s just called lying,” the anchor jested.
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“I was lying,” Hager continued, reiterating that “there’s a difference between gaslighting and lying,” prompting Kotb to accuse her of gaslighting again.
“I straight up cheated on a game and lied to you,” she said adding that “nobody was convinced that it was the truth.”
