During a recent conversation on Today With Hoda & Jenna, Hoda Kotb revealed that a former boss made rude comments about her body.
The conversation began when Hoda, 60, and Jenna Bush Hager discussed Timothée Chalamet’s recent comments about receiving criticism over his body type when trying to land acting roles when he was younger.
“I would always get the same feedback, ‘Oh, you don’t have the right body,’” he said during an interview with Rolling Stone U.K. “I had an agent call me once and say, ‘I’m tired of getting the same feedback. We’re gonna stop submitting you for these bigger projects, because you’re not putting on weight.’ I was trying to put on weight. I couldn’t! I basically couldn’t. My metabolism or whatever the fuck couldn’t do it.”
Hoda said that she could relate to Timothée’s comments because she too was told that she was not fit for a role before.
“I mean, look, sometimes people will tell you things that you’re not right for,” the Hope Is a Rainbow author explained. “I still remember I had just started working in a small market. And I played basketball in high school so I always assumed I was in shape even though, literally, after college and stuff I wasn’t.”
“I still remember my boss going to me, ‘Hey, Hoda,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah?’ He goes, ‘Hey, I got an idea. Maybe you might wanna try to get on the treadmill,’” Hoda continued.
Jenna, 43, was audibly shocked by the comment, sharing her support for Hoda and listening intently.
“You know when you have a perception of yourself that is not the perception of the world?” Hoda asked, to which Jenna replied, “Yeah, it’s called reverse body dysmorphia. I have it too.”
“Yeah, so I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’” Hoda continued. “But, if you don’t fit, they want you to wear something a certain way, cut your hair a certain way, speak a certain way.”
This wasn’t the only time that Hoda has talked about body image on the show. In April 2022, Hoda explained why she will always wear a bikini rather than a one-piece swimsuit.
“My mother, who is in her 80s, wears a bikini bathing suit. She taught me that confidence comes from the inside. She is tan, bronzed, and beautiful,” Hoda said during an episode of Today in April 2022.
“Ever since that, I too have worn a bikini,” she explained. “Who cares if stuff is goo-ing out? It doesn’t matter! You live once, how do you want to live?! Scared?!”
But Jenna admitted that she was not a fan of wearing bikinis.
“Not all of us tan equally, some of us have stomachs that haven’t seen the light of day since I was 18!” she remarked.
“If that burns, how does that make my body feel? Not so good! Some of us also have a larger region right up here,” Jenna explained while pointing to her chest.
Jenna, who shares kids Mila, Poppy and Hal with husband Henry Hager, said, “We want to throw our kids in the air. When my bathing suit fell off, it scared people! So I like to be tight.”
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