Hoda Kotb mercilessly mocked by NBC staff: Insiders slam her as 'perpetual pest' they 'just want to go away'... as her 'exhausting' demands are laid bare
Former Today show host Hoda Kotb is facing humiliation at the hands of her ex-colleagues at NBC with her new YouTube venture Joy Rides, the Daily Mail can reveal.
NBC insiders say Kotb, 61, who stepped down as co-anchor on the morning slot a year ago, has been pestering her old team for favors to help boost her new passion project – and they're fed up with it.
They have also been mocking the whole Joy Rides concept, which notably featured currently absent Today co-host Savannah Guthrie in its January 21 launch episode.
Joy Rides is billed as a celebrity interview series featuring candid on-the-move conversations with guests in cars. Think of it as James Cordon's carpool karaoke serial, but without the singing.
Episodes are promised weekly, with the first having featured 54-year-old Guthrie, set to return to the sofa and main anchor desk in studio 1A at Rockefeller Center, New York City full time on January 26.
It was shot before she left on December 19 for surgery to remove vocal cord nodules.
But NBC sources have been mocking the crack-of-dawn interview - largely filmed in darkness - as a disastrous start for Kotb.
Hoda Kotb launched Joy Rides l last month – first guest on the celebrity interview series that NBC sources are privately mocking as 'forced and exhausting', was former colleague Savannah Guthrie
Hoda Kotb worked with Sheinelle Jones and Jenna Bush Hagar. She is allegedly facing eye-rolls from former colleagues over her new YouTube venture, Joy Rides, insiders tell the Daily Mail
'Even Hoda doesn't really know what this is,' one insider admitted. 'The staff call her a perpetual pest. She quit, now she keeps begging favors and everyone's over it.'
A second source, an NBC producer, was even more blunt: 'The staff are sick of it. It's not their job to find content for Hoda's app.
'They're burned out working for NBC News and just want her to go away.
'She's pushing her luck. The idea looked cute on paper, but in reality it's awkward, forced and exhausting. Hoda's charm only goes so far when people are tapped out.'
And of Guthrie's involvement in interview, another insider said: 'Savannah gave her fifteen minutes at 4am. That tells you everything.
'If anyone else with so few subscribers asked Savannah to do media, she wouldn't. It's basically Hoda forcing her way back into relevance, and no one's impressed.'
A representative for Kotb declined to give an on-the-record response to the NBC insiders' claims.
Kotb has 9,497 views so far for the Guthrie five-question interview on Joy 101, which has nearly 2,000 subscribers.
In it, a gushing Kotb was asked by Guthrie why they're doing this and replied: 'Because I love you and this is a little joy ride.'
Joy Rides is billed as a celebrity interview series featuring candid on-the-move conversations with guests in cars
Former co-star Savannah Guthrie appeared in the debut episode of Joy Rides, filmed during a pre-dawn drive to work shortly before her medical leave
Kotb is pictured with former NBC colleagues, Megyn Kelly, Savannah Guthrie, and Al Roker in 2018
Guthrie responded: 'OK, it's joy, I've got to tell you normally at this hour, joy is in scarce supply.'
Kotb appeared unable to stop giggling as her former co-host replied to the question, where are you in life right now?
'I think I'm in a moment of peace,' Guthrie said, adding 'and joy,' clearly fulfilling the interviewing message mission.
'And also transition, I have this whole thing going on with my voice and I'm going to address that.
'That's been a struggle. It's been a hard season trying to figure out what's going on with that.'
Next question between the pair in the back of an SUV: what was the most difficult time in your life and what did you learn from that?
'When I was getting separated and divorced from my first husband,' said Guthrie, her voice scratchy.
'I was in my 30s...I was sad about it and I was also starting a new job at a place called NBC… trying really hard to make my way and make my little dream come true while other dreams were falling apart.
Guthrie is set to return full-time to Today after time off for vocal cord surgery, while Kotb continues to build her brand outside NBC
Sheinelle Jones and Craig Melvin have been filling in for Guthrie on the main anchor desk in Studio 1A at Rockefeller Center
'I felt like a failure and I think that's when my faith became even more solidified. I realized I didn't have to be perfect to be loved by God.'
At this point Kotb turned on maximum gush, telling Guthrie that the book she's been 'reading, again' is, pausing momentarily, 'yours'.
The co-anchor has written one adult book, Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere.
Asked when she's been the happiest, Guthrie kept to the message with: 'I try to have joy inside. I'm not, like, into toxic fake joy…
'I would say the most exquisite feeling of joy I've ever felt, sorry it's a cliche, is when those babies were born.
'When I laid eyes on those babies and I heard them cry and I held them. It is like an all encompassing, surpassing joy…. so deep.
'It was everything I ever wanted. All I ever wanted.'
Insiders' condemnation of Kotb's latest venture follows the Daily Mail exclusively revealing Guthrie has been in 'full panic mode' due to her absence from the set.
She has been pressing doctors to get her back as soon as possible.
She video-called into the show on January 20 to give a health update, saying she would have a pre-return appearance Friday and get back full time on Monday, January 26.
Shock figures revealed Today won 12 per cent more viewers for the week covering the end of December and beginning of January while Guthrie was absent compared to the same seven days 12 months prior.
Sheinelle Jones has continued to fill in for her alongside Craig Melvin.
Some 2.86 million tuned in according to Nielsen TV ratings, capturing the top spot for Today over ABC's Good Morning America.
'Savannah is trying to laugh it off publicly, but privately she's completely shaken,' ' a source close to the show revealed.
'Seeing the ratings tick up without her hit a nerve she didn't know she had.
The source said Guthrie was constantly checking the latest figures, saying: 'She's refreshing the ratings reports like it's her full-time job right now. It's consuming her.
Despite recovering at home from her surgery, Guthrie was shocked to see Today's soaring ratings, fearing NBC could use this as leverage
Guthrie is happily married to husband Michael Feldman and they have two children
'She's hyper-aware now of every on-air decision, every co-host moment. It's like she's watching the show from the outside for the first time.
'Her biggest fear is that this changes how NBC sees her leverage. That thought alone is keeping her up at night.'
Insiders noticed an instant, more relaxed, 'warmer' and 'more human' change in the show after Guthrie went on her break.
'Without Savannah, the vibe shifted immediately. It stopped feeling like a classroom and started feeling like a group of equals,' said the source.
'She naturally takes charge, but when she's gone, everyone else finally breathes. It feels more collaborative, more relaxed.
'There's less tension on set now. No one's worried about stepping out of line or getting corrected mid-conversation.
'The show feels warmer. Instead of one authority figure steering everything, it's more like friends sharing the space.'
NBC said in response: 'Season-to-date, TODAY is posting its best ratings in 14 years.
Today with Jenna & Sheinelle kicked off on Monday, January 12. Kotb and her former cohost of the fourth hour, Kathie Lee Gifford, made appearances as the new segment's first guests
'Savannah Guthrie has been at the helm of the show for almost that entire time and she is one of the keys to its ratings success.'
Guthrie has co-hosted the Today show since July 2012 when she joined now disgraced Matt Lauer, who was fired in 2017 over inappropriate sexual behavior.
She is reported to earn $8 million a year for her role and lives with former Democratic political aide Michael Feldman at their $11 million townhouse in Brooklyn Heights, New York.
They moved there after selling their $7.1 million four-bedroom apartment in Tribeca. The couple, who married in 2014, are also reported to have a home in upstate New York.
Family life also revolves around their 11-year-old daughter Vale and eight-year-old son Charley.
She had Vale when she was 42 and Charley when she was 44 after rounds of IVF.
'I'll never get over it,' she said of being a mom, People reported.
'I got to have babies long past the time that anyone would really be hopeful (and) I had long given up hope.'
Guthrie told Health magazine in 2019: 'I knew it was winning the lottery ticket to have one child.
'So I never dreamed that I would have two. But with Charley, I did do IVF. So I would say Vale was a miracle and Charley was a medical miracle.'
Her first husband was British broadcast producer Mark Orchard. They married in 2005 and divorced in 2009.
