Is There A Dark Reason Hoda Kotb Is Leaving ‘Today?’

Last week, Hoda Kotb sent fans into a spiral when she announced that she would be exiting Today in early 2025 after so many years on the show. At the time of the announcement, she put it up to the desire to spend more time with her children. However, some darker truth is beginning to rise to the surface.

Rumors Claim Hoda Kotb Retired From Today Due To Receiving A Pay Cut

Everybody in life wants to keep growing in their career in order to have bigger pay days. I can’t safely say that there’s someone out there who wouldn’t be disgruntled over a pay cut. Some of us may not afford to quit, but if we can…

Anyway, the story here is that Kotb stepped down from her role as the beloved host of the morning show due to receiving a pay cut. Kotb has been co-hosting the show alongside Savannah Guthrie for six years after Matt Lauer was ousted from the network over sexual assault allegations.

Speaking to Puck News, a media executive is suggesting that Kotb may have gotten a pay cut that sped up her exit from the show. Prior to this, the journalist was rumored to be making close to $20 million per year on the show alone.

“This is the age of the great resetting of TV news contracts,” the media exec revealed. “Everyone is getting their pay cut or their jobs eliminated.”

The thing is, TV isn’t making as much money as it used to now that streaming services are competing to create the top shows and experiences for fans. For example, these days, Today manages to draw in an audience of 2.8 million, whereas it pulled around 5 million viewers per episode ten years ago.

Hoda Kotb – Wants To “Turn the Page At 60” By Leaving Today Behind

According to Variety, Kotb plans to stay on the show through early 2025, despite announcing it on the September 26 taping.

“I realized it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” Hotb shared in an emotional video message shared on Instagram. “I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on … With all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world.”

When it comes to other reasons that she’s saying goodbye to the show, she said, “Obviously, I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have. I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.”

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