Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager praised Kelly Rowland for defending herself against a Cannes security guard.
On Tuesday’s broadcast of “Today with Hoda and Jenna,” the co-hosts discussed the event with E! News host Justin Sylvester, during which Kotb said they were “very upset” about the entire situation.
“What is she protecting them from?” I don’t understand what she’s attempting to do. What are you protecting them from? “Or what is she doing?” She inquired about the security guard’s intentions.
Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager defended Kelly Rowland after the singer scolded a security guard at the Cannes Film Festival red carpet.
Rowland was seen getting upset with a female security guard last week.
Bush Hager, 42, responded that they do “not know” the reasons behind the security guard’s “weird” actions but regardless Kelly Rowland is their “girl.”
“Yes. It felt like people were piling on her and we know that she handles herself with grace and class always,” Kotb, 59, said of the former Destiny’s Child member.
Kotb and Bush Hager were talking about the viral video that showed Rowland, 43, pointing at and allegedly yelling at a female security guard while walking up the red carpet stairs at the Cannes Film Festival last week.
The singer was allegedly telling her to “not talk to [her] like that.”
She seemingly told the security guard to not talk to her “like that.”
“It felt like people were piling on her and we know that she handles herself with grace and class always,” Kotb said on Tuesday’s episode of “Today with Hoda and Jenna.”
The “Motivation” singer later addressed the incident, telling AP News, “That woman knows what happened. I know what happened. I have a boundary, and I stand by those boundaries.”
“There were other women that attended that carpet who did not quite look like me and they didn’t get scolded, or pushed off, or told to get off,” she continued.
The same security guard was later filmed getting into similar spats with Dominican actress Massiel Taveras and K-pop star Yoona.
Rowland later addressed the incident and insinuated that she was targeted because of her race.
Kotb and Bush Hager’s defense came after Rowland walked out of the show over a dressing room.
Kotb and Bush Hager’s support of Rowland comes after Page Six revealed that she stormed out of the “Today” show in February, when she was due to co-host with the former.
At the time, insiders informed Page Six that she was supposed to replace Bush Hager, who quit because she was “not happy” with the dressing room.
Shortly after the news surfaced, Kotb assured viewers that there was no bad blood between them and Rowland was welcome to co-host the show whenever she wanted.
“She can share my dressing room. We’ll be in this together! But, in any case, I simply wanted to express how much we love her. “We’ve loved her on this show for many, many years,” Kotb said on a February broadcast.