Tragic Details About Former NBC News Anchor Tamron Hall

This article includes discussion of domestic abuse and infertility.

Most got to know her as the co-host of the "Today" show, but these days, Tamron Hall is best known for her own eponymous talk show, which she launched in 2019, and of course Hall's rumored affair with Donald Trump. The former has provided plenty of its own challenges, with Hall accidentally making it sound as if she dealt cocaine as a teenager not long after the show aired its first episode. Her "confession" made headlines, and Hall and her team were clambering to do damage control after the Daily Mail ran with the story. The outlet alleged that the talk show host had confessed to peddling drugs as a teenager alongside her boyfriend but then edited the segment out of her show. 

In a statement to People, Hall made it clear that the conversation had been misunderstood. "I never dealt drugs," she clarified, admitting that a part of the show where she discussed this sensitive topic had been edited out, but it wasn't because she had anything to hide, it was solely for "legal reasons." The TV personality further explained that she shared her story with Prison Rights Advocate Topeka Sam. "I am now nearly 50 years old and was reflecting on a bad judgment call that could have turned worse. I say but for the grace of God, there go I."

As for the whispers that Hall had an affair with Trump back in 2012, neither the talk show host or the two-time president has ever publicly confirmed or denied those rumors. What is most concerning about the scuttlebutt is that it includes a claim that Hall got pregnant and had an abortion, with Trump footing the bill. These rumors appeared to have died down, but with his 2024 election campaign, they inevitably resurfaced. Aside from dealing with damaging headlines and allegations of a scandalous affair, Hall has also had to navigate other difficulties too.

In 2004, Tamron Hall suffered a devastating loss: Her sister, Renate, was found floating in the pool in her house's backyard. Upon further inspection, she was found to have been beaten to death. The killer has not been apprehended, but Renate had a history of dating violent men. For Hall, her sister's death wasn't something she really knew how to process, and neither did their family. "We did not talk about [it]," the host confirmed on her show while speaking to her sister's son, Leroy Moore III. "We never discussed it. Because I didn't know what to say," (via Oprah Daily).

After Renate's death, Hall questioned how she handled her sister's past relationships and whether she could have done more to protect her. Speaking to Forbes about all the projects she's tackled to raise awareness of domestic abuse, the TV personality confessed that she wished she'd handled Renate's situation differently. In particular, Hall recalled one time she came home and found Renate's room in disarray. There was a man with her, and Renate had a nasty bump on her head, but he claimed to have had nothing to do with it.

"I said to her partner, 'Get out of my house.' I kicked him out and called my parents immediately. But I also should have called the police. I should have encouraged my sister to file charges," Hall said. "At the time [I] was a local anchor. I was thinking, we don't want the police at our house. This will all go away." Unfortunately, it didn't. The next day, Renate invited the man back. Hall simply couldn't comprehend why her sister would do such a thing, sadly divulging, "In that selfish moment of disappointment, I said, 'you both leave.'" 

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

Something you might not know about Tamron Hall is that she was very good friends with legendary musician Prince. He even used a selfie of Hall as the cover image for "If I Could Get Ur Attention," which was released in 2015. The two stars first bonded over their love of both current affairs and their families, and their relationship eventually grew into a beautiful friendship. "The only other person I spoke with more than Prince is my mother. This the person I communicate with more than anyone," Hall told MSNBC following the musician's shocking death in 2016 (via Today). She added that she'd spoken to him shortly before he passed away and the icon sounded just fine. 

Understandably, Hall never for a moment thought it would be their last conversation. She subsequently took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to pay tribute to Prince after news of his death broke, writing, "'Like a bird without a song'. I've lost one of my best friends today. I know he would have advice right now, Prince I'm listening as always." While discussing their friendship on MSNBC, Hall reminisced about how fortunate she was to know Prince. "He was much more than music and I think that people know that," she opined, later adding, "Prince was such a compassionate person. It wasn't just about his money, and his royalties, he wanted to challenge what he saw was an unfair system for artists."

Many are still scratching their heads trying to figure out what really happened to Tamron Hall in 2017, when she unexpectedly decided to end her contract with the "Today" show and NBC News at large. The popular talk show host hasn't been very open about the details, but she has admitted that leaving broke her heart. Hall's departure may or may not have had something to do with Megyn Kelly getting penciled into her designated time slot on "Today." As Hall clarified to Closer Weekly following her shock departure, "It wasn't that I did not know my value. It's that others did not know my value." She added, "It was an easy decision, because there was no other decision to make." 

Hall also hinted that she wasn't being treated with the respect she thought she deserved and had ultimately decided that enough was enough. Speaking to People a few years later, Hall detailed the aftermath of her resignation, acknowledging that she never thought she'd let her job at the network go. "I was in a fog. I thought, 'Wow, is this how it goes down?' Not knowing that so many of us lose things we think are important, and you have no idea that something better is right there. You've just got to persevere," she shared. Looking back, though, leaving was the right thing to do. "I'm from the South, and there's a saying: 'It's not a setback; it's a setup for something else,'" Hall mused.

Tamron Hall dreamed of starting a family for years but couldn't get pregnant when she first tried in her 30s. She went on to receive fertility treatments but none of them worked, so the talk show host hit pause for a while. It was only when she was in her 40s that Hall tried to get pregnant again, and this time around, the stakes were much higher. During an interview with People, the TV personality recalled how differently she experienced the fertility clinic in her 40s as opposed to when she previously first went there. She'd been more hopeful before, and now, her chances of conceiving were even slimmer. When Hall finally got pregnant at the age of 48, she kept it a secret, since she didn't have it in her to publicly deal with the disappointment if she lost the baby. As the talk show host reasoned, "I was high-risk, not just because of my age, but there were other medical factors too."

Luckily, her story had a happy ending, with Hall giving birth to a healthy baby boy, named Moses, in 2019. While initially not wanting to know the baby's sex, she eventually caved a few weeks into her pregnancy. Hall cried when the doctor told her it was a boy because she'd been hoping for a girl. "I saw all of my fashion future float [away]. That sounds so vain, but it's true. And my husband said, 'I will one day tell Moses that you did that.' I'm like, 'No, it's just tears! I visualize myself walking around with a little girl dressed exactly like me!'" she revealed on People's dedicated parenting podcast, "Me Becoming Mom."

Talk show host Tamron Hall has been pretty candid about her private life, and in 2024, she opened up to her viewers about dealing with some unpleasant symptoms that were affecting her day-to-day life. Hall eventually went to her doctor to get checked out, and they discovered that she had a parasitic infection called blastocystis hominis. According to the Cleveland Clinic, this parasite makes its home in the gut, and while many people can tolerate its presence without any symptoms, some experience gastrointestinal upset like pain, bloating, gas, nausea, and diarrhea. Contracting the parasite is fairly easy — it can live on contaminated food or in water, but is most often found in animal and human feces. If a person is infected with the parasite, they can easily transfer it to someone else if they have poor hygiene habits, like not washing their hands regularly.

The outspoken TV personality was a little freaked out by her diagnosis, and as she showed the audience a picture of what the parasite looked like, she refused to turn around and take a peek at it herself, saying she'd rather not see it. "Don't be like, 'What dirty kitchen did Tamron Hall eat in?" the talk show host joked as she recounted her diagnosis. "Apparently a lot of people have it and most folks don't have symptoms. I had severe symptoms." Fortunately, Hall added that she was parasite-free after a course of antibiotics but that she'd felt pretty rough for two weeks before her symptoms finally improved.