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Hoda Kotb has been missing in action from her Today show post for nearly two weeks. But the famed news anchor is fine and is dealing with a personal family matter.

On Wednesday, Jenna Bush Hager addressed Kotb’s absence at the start of Today with Hoda & Jenna, amid mounting concern from fans who haven’t seen the famed anchor on a live show since Feb. 17, Page Six reports.

“Willie [Geist] is in for Hoda, and we just want to let you all know that we heard you, and Hoda is OK,” Bush Hager said.

“She just has a family health matter she is dealing with.”

Fans have speculated about Kotb’s absence from the NBC morning show and an earlier slot she typically appears.

“We know a lot of you have been wondering how she’s doing. We can tell you that Hoda is OK, [but] she’s got a family health matter that she’s been dealing with,” said Craig Melvin, who has been filling in for Kotb’s 3rd Hour of Today slot in the wake of her absence.

Melvin noted how much they are all looking forward “to seeing Hoda and Savannah [Guthrie] back here at the desk very, very soon.”

Guthrie left in the middle of the live show on Tuesday after testing positive for COVID-19. Kotb has been silent about her absence but started to alarm fans after they took notice of the inspirational quotes she has been sharing on social media instead of her usual work and family photos.

In the last week, Kotb posted six inspirational quotes on her page with messages about being “brave,” moving on from “dark clouds,” being “strong,” and “hope.” Kotb shares her two daughters — Haley Joy, 5, and Hope Catherine, 3 — with her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman.

 

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A post shared by Hoda Kotb (@hodakotb)

Fans have flooded her comments with supportive messages and asked her to return to the show.

“Today show just isn’t the same without you! I hope you’re ok,” one fan wrote.

“I know you have a right to privacy, but your truest fans have noticed your absence and these posts…worried about you,” added someone else.

Disney Branded Television revealed today the trailer and key art for the new Disney Channel series Saturdays, set to premiere on Friday, March 24th. The series, executive produced by Marsai Martin (Little, Fantasy Football), created and executive produced by Norman Vance Jr. (Girlfriends, Roll Bounce), follows teen Paris Johnson and her roller-skate crew, the We-B-Girlz, on their quest to becoming Goldens, the best skaters at the Saturdays Roller Palace. Episodes one through six will be available the next day on Disney+.

Saturdays is a single-cam coming-of-age comedy that only takes place on the best day of the week…Saturday! The series revolves around 14-year-old Paris Johnson and her best friends, Simone and Ari, who hone their roller skating skills on the cool parquet floor of Saturdays, a local skating rink in Chicago. Together they form the We-B-Girlz skate crew and are determined to show and prove they have the hottest skate routines on the planet!

The series stars Danielle Jalade (Yes Day) as Paris Johnson, Daria Johns (Nappily Ever After) as Simone Samson, Golden Brooks (Girlfriends) as Deb Johnson, Omar Gooding (Barbershop) as Cal Johnson, Jermaine Harris (The Map of Tiny Perfect Things) as London Johnson, Peyton Basnight (Sudden Sisters) as Ari, and Tim Johnson Jr. (Ballers) as Derek “D Rok.”

Nigeria’s ruling party candidate, Bola Tinubu, was declared president-elect of Africa’s most populous nation in the early hours of Wednesday after a weekend election that the main opposition parties have disputed.

Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state, will take over leadership of a country grappling with Islamist insurgencies in the northeast, armed attacks, killings and kidnappings, conflict between livestock herders and farmers, cash, fuel and power shortages, and perennial corruption that opponents say Buhari’s party has failed to stamp out, despite promises to do so.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said Tinubu garnered 8.79 million votes, ahead of main opposition challenger Atiku Abubakar’s 6.98 million votes. Peter Obi, an outsider popular with younger voters, garnered 6.1 million votes.

Nigerian electoral law says a candidate can win by getting more votes than their rivals, provided they get 25% of the vote in at least two-thirds of the 36 states and the federal capital Abuja, which Tinubu did.

Opposition parties rejected the results as the product of a flawed process, which suffered multiple technical difficulties owing to the introduction of new technology by INEC, and on Tuesday called on its chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, to resign.

Tinubu asked voters to elect him on his track record during his two terms as Lagos state governor at the turn of the century, during which he reduced violent crime, improved the city’s traffic jams and cleaned up rubbish.

The 70-year-old has, however, sometimes appeared frail in public, slurring his speech and answering questions with platitudes, and skipping several campaign events, leaving some to doubt how effective he would be.

Obi’s campaign attracted young people and urban, more educated voters fed up with corrupt politics of the past, the two parties that have represented it since the end of military rule in 1999 and old men who have tended to dominate them.

OPPOSITION CRIES FOUL

The opposition People’s Democratic Party, Labour Party and a smaller party rejected the results.

“The results being declared at the National Collation centre have been heavily doctored and manipulated and do not reflect the wishes of Nigerians expressed at the polls,” they said in a joint statement.

INEC rejected the charge.

“There are laid down procedures for aggrieved parties or candidates to follow when they are dissatisfied about the outcome of an election,” it said in a statement.

The election was also marred by violence in places, although not yet on the scale of previous ones.

The INEC had promised to upload results from each polling unit to its website but most units were unable to do so immediately, and thousands of results had yet to be uploaded.

That meant results had to be collated manually inside ward and local government counting centres as in previous polls, which observer missions also criticised as the result of poor planning.

Larsa Pippen wasn’t expecting the grill session she endured while appearing on The Tamron Hall Show and called out the host’s “negative” interview style.

The Real Housewives of Miami star, 48, appeared on Hall’s show on Tuesday where she was forced to open up about her budding relationship with Marcus Jordan, 32. With 16 years between them, Hall couldn’t help but ask Larsa the obvious when it came to her romance with someone nearly 20 years her junior.

“I’ve dated guys that were a lot older than me. Scottie is 10 years older than me,” she said. “So, I don’t really view age as you’re mature or immature.”

“I don’t feel like that determines if you’re mature or not. I feel like if you can drink at 21, then you can go to war at 18,” Larsa continued. “I feel like there are different circumstances that I feel like age doesn’t really determine your level of maturity.”

In addition to the 16-year age gap between Larsa and Marcus, the two have close ties to two former teammates who do not get along. Larsa is the ex-wife of Scottie Pippen and Marcus is the son of Michael Jordan.

2020’s The Last Dance documentary shared the story of the Chicago Bulls’ success in the 90s. It also highlighted where things started to go wrong between Scottie and Michael. Years after playing as teammates, Scottie and Michael still aren’t on good terms, and Tamron wanted to know why Larsa would date the offspring of someone her ex-husband doesn’t like.

“I can’t basically explain how someone else feels. That’s how Scottie feels and he has a right to feel the way,” Larsa explained.

“I personally don’t really care about other people out here. I feel like I live my truth. I’m happy. I feel like we get along. He’s my best friend. And so as your best friend, I feel like we have a lot in common.”

But the Bravo star was visibly bothered by Hall’s probing and waited until the commercial break to call her out. Once they returned, Hall let the audience know that Larsa confronted her for being “negative.”

When Hall told Larsa she only based her questions on what’s been made public in the media and on the show, Larsa defended herself claiming “There’s a lot that goes into these shows that you don’t really see.”

Hall’s response wasn’t exactly the sympathy Larsa might’ve been hoping for.

“What you’re saying is that y’all are equally mean? I don’t know,” Hall responded.

“No, we’re not mean to each other. I feel like you don’t have it right,” Larsa told her.

Hall told Larsa that she didn’t want the reality star to think “Tamron Hall judges you for anything.” But it’s clear that damage had already been done.

Fans have been praising Hall for “eating Larsa Pippen up,” as one viewer put it.

Not Tamron Hall eating Larsa Pippen up, chile. pic.twitter.com/M6IZUQzy2B

— n a t a l i e (@nataliethehero) February 28, 2023

Why did Larsa Pippen go on Tamron Hall thinking it would be a soft ball interview?

— Tone Bee (@TeeliciousB) February 28, 2023

Why are so many ppl upset about Tamron Hall’s interview w Larsa? Tamron asked good questions & didn’t allow Larsa to skirt around the answers. That is what a true journalism is. Y’all have let podcasters & bloggers corrupt your brain. Journalists should be truth seekers. #RHOM

— Yasmine (@yas_realitea) March 1, 2023