Hoda Kotb is reflecting on the moment a former boss body shamed her.
On the Dec. 2 episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, the 60-year-old discussed Timothée Chalamet’s starring role in the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. Kotb mentioned Chalamet’s recent comments about being told to change his body type to land bigger movies early in his career, and admitted that she related to that.
“I mean, look, sometimes people will tell you things that you’re not right for,” Kotb told co-host Jenna Bush Hager. “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,’” she continued, impersonating her then-boss’s voice and moving her arms as if she’s running.
Bush Hager, 42, gasped in shock at the comment, shouting, “No!”
“You know when you have a perception of yourself that is not the perception of the world?” Kotb asked before Bush Hager quipped, “Yeah, it’s called reverse body dysmorphia. I have it too.”
“Yeah, so I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’” Kotb recalled. “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.”
Bush Hager then recalled being initially told to refrain from saying “y’all” on the Today show, but said she ultimately couldn’t “pretend” to be someone she wasn’t.
“I think you know when you’re pretending deep down and no matter what it is, you start losing who you are,” Kotb added, noting that “sometimes” people still do have to make small changes to “fit into a work environment.”
