NBC News Anchor Tamron Hall's Most Controversial Moments

Tamron Hall may be most recognizable today as the host of her self-titled talk show "The Tamron Hall Show." However, before its September 2019 premiere, Hall was most known to many as a national correspondent for NBC News and co-host of "Today's Take." The latter was an additional third hour on the "Today Show." Getting to co-host "Today's Take" was a proud moment for Hall, who made history as the first African American woman to co-anchor any hour of "The Today Show."

Unfortunately, Hall's time on "Today's Take" did not last long. In February 2017, NBC chose to replace Hall with Megyn Kelly, offering her a lesser role on the network. Hall declined the offer, opting to end her contract and leave the network entirely, including its news affiliate, MSNBC. The move took many viewers by surprise, and backlash against the network was swift. The National Association of Black Journalists accused the network of whitewashing, and many fans criticized the decision on social media, particularly after Kelly soon found herself at the center of controversy.  

Hall remained silent for a while, before opening up about the situation to USA Today in a 2019 interview. The journalist revealed that she was heartbroken about the situation, adding, "(Imagine) you've been putting in the work, and suddenly your employer says they're phasing you out ... It wasn't about who I was losing it to -– it was like a relationship where you're putting in 100% and the person who's putting in less has the nerve to break up with you." However, while many empathized with Hall for a decision she could not control, she would find herself embroiled in more controversies that drew heavy criticism of her choices and decisions. 

Donald Trump is certainly no stranger to controversy, and in 2024, Tamron Hall found herself at the center of one of those controversies. The story goes back to 2016, when rumors began to swirl that Hall, then co-host of NBC's "Today's Take," allegedly had an affair with Trump in 2012, years before his first presidential bid. However, he was already, at the time, married to Melania. The salacious rumor went on to say that the affair resulted in a terminated pregnancy. Journalist J.K. Trotter wrote a lengthy breakdown of the rumors on his Substack in November 2024, including that NBC journalists had first discovered evidence of the rumored relationship in late 2015.

However, Trotter noted that while there was strong evidence supporting the claim, many crucial details and sources were compromised in some way. This led to concern by the journalists about moving forward with the story. Therefore, the rumors were never published in the mainstream media and only became a point of discussion in late 2024, after Trotter's article and its highlight from columnist A.J. Benza, who declared on an L.A. radio talk show that the rumored affair was the real reason NBC let Hall go in 2017.

For her part, Hall has remained silent about the rumors, avoiding any discussion about Donald Trump and politics in general on her talk show. Trotter believes this is likely because Hall signed a nondisclosure agreement when leaving NBC that forbids her from talking about the situation. As salacious as the story is, many, particularly Trump supporters, found the whole thing to be "much ado about nothing." And with the mainstream media continuing to ignore the story, we may never know the truth about the situation.

On a segment of her eponymous talk show, Tamron Hall shared a personal story about helping to facilitate the sale of drugs with her then-college boyfriend. The story, which Hall shared while interviewing Prison Rights Advocate Topeka Sam, quickly led to a media firestorm. The Daily Mail swiftly ran a story with the headline, "EXCLUSIVE: Tamron Hall shocks her talk show audience by confessing that she used to 'facilitate' SELLING COCAINE with her college boyfriend..." and went on to declare that Hall's statement shocked network executives, who rushed to cut the statement out of the show.

Hall quickly put out a statement to People Magazine, clarifying her comments and emphatically denying that she ever sold cocaine. The talk show host added that her purpose in sharing the story was to reflect on a moment of poor judgment in her younger years that could have been a lot worse. Hall shared the story during a segment that highlighted incarcerated women, and the mistakes made that led to their incarceration. Hall's intention was likely to show empathy to the women and relate to them in some small way. Unfortunately, it was not received as intended by some.

Before securing a deal with Disney-ABC, after her NBC exit, Hall signed a development deal with the Weinstein Company to produce and host her talk show. The statement announcing the partnership mentioned plans for the company and Hall to collaborate on developing additional non-scripted programming. However, it was not long after the announcement of the partnership that the scandal surrounding Harvey Weinstein broke. Hall quickly addressed the situation in an interview with the Huffington Post where she acknowledged that she was debating how to proceed with her existing deal with the Weinstein Company.

Hall went on to admit that she had confronted Harvey Weinstein about the claims, calling him at 5 a.m., after reading The New York Times report. While Hall expressly stated that Weinstein had never been inappropriate towards her, she called the allegations horrifying, and expressed sympathy for the women whom she noted, "have suffered in silence and were paralyzed by fear."

Hall also confirmed that Weinstein apologized to her during their phone call and admitted that he needed help. At the time, Hall revealed that her deal was still active. However, a year later, in 2018, she was able to get out of the contract and eventually sign with Disney-ABC.

In 2021, Tamron Hall interviewed Joey Gugliemelli, better known to the world of "RuPaul's Drag Race" viewers as Sherry Pie, on "The Tamron Hall Show." The decision swiftly led to online backlash as Gugliemelli, who had competed on Season 12 of the show, was disqualified after reports of sexual misconduct surfaced against him once the season began airing. Even before the episode aired, many fans of "Drag Race," members of the drag community, and some of Gugliemelli's victims spoke out against the show's decision to allow him a platform.

The backlash was so loud and vocal that Hall addressed the criticism on the show, before starting the interview with Gugliemelli. She defended the show's decision by pointing out that "people who do bad things are interviewed." She also noted that as a reporter for 30 years, she'd interviewed many people who committed awful crimes, including murderers.

However, many were not swayed by Hall's defense and remained critical of the show's decision to platform Gugliemelli. One particular sticking point for many was that the segment was solely devoted to Gugliemelli sharing his story, while none of his victims were given the same opportunity. One of Gugliemelli's victims, Ben Shimkus, called out Hall and the show in an opinion piece in Out Magazine, noting that he questioned the morality of the segment on many levels, particularly that they did not reach out to any of the victims.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

In the wake of her exit from the very popular radio show "The Breakfast Club," radio personality Angela Yee sat down for an interview with Tamron Hall on The Tamron Hall Show to discuss, among other things, her decision to exit the show after more than a decade. Some of Yee's comments led to backlash and negative reactions from her former co-hosts. While appearing on an episode of "The Breakfast Club," Porsha Williams discussed Yee's appearance with the latter's former co-hosts. Rather than criticize Yee, Williams took the opportunity to call out Hall.

The "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star accused Hall of having an agenda in her interviews and essentially setting up guests to say something that will be catchy for headlines. To support her claims, Williams recounted her experience as a guest on Hall's show and accused the host of seemingly attacking her at one point in the interview. While Hall did not address Williams' comments, social media came to her defense, with many criticizing and even mocking Williams.