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Jenna Bush Hager divulged that an unnamed “Today” show correspondent once told her they thought she’d been hired because of her famous father, former US President George W. Bush.
“A correspondent said to me, ‘We just thought they hired you because of your dad,'” Hager confessed during Wednesday’s episode of “Today with Jenna & Sheinelle.”
While she said she wasn’t “gonna say who” was responsible for the comment, the talk show host indicated it was within a month of two of beginning the job.
While discussing “nepo babies,” Hager admitted, “I’m sure — and I haven’t asked my boss, and I’d rather not — I got this interview. I was on the show because my dad was president. I wrote a book.”
She added, “And then my mom [Laura Bush] and I wrote a book nine months later, and she guest-hosted the 8. And so I was on, and then they kept calling.”
While discussing the topic of “nepo babies,” Hager, 44, said she knows she “wouldn’t have been given the opportunity” to appear on the show if her parents weren’t public figures.
“I know that,” she explained to Jones. “You know, we have a privilege that we know…and if you can own that…”
Jones then responded, “That is why we love you, because you own it. But then you still keep going. You don’t sit on it.”
Hager replied, “We all work like crazy.”
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Due to her parent’s status, Hager shared, she’s “felt like [she] needed to prove [herself]” noting, “I feel lucky to be here.”
The mom of three — who shares kids Mila, 13, Poppy, 10, and Hal, 6, with husband Henry Hager — divulged that she didn’t immediately pursue the opportunity, either.
“They asked me to come work, I said no because I was a teacher, and I kept teaching for several years,” she recalled.
“And then, as we all know, teaching is the hardest job there is. So eventually, I took the interview and I started here.”
Hager got her start at the network in 2009, working as a correspondent before co-hosting “Today with Jenna & Hoda” with Hoda Kotb beginning in 2019.
After Kotb left the show last year, Hager was ultimately joined by Jones as her permanent co-host on the morning talk show.
Despite the privilege she’s gleaned from having a famous father, Hager previously revealed that George doesn’t make her job easy.
“He harasses me,” she divulged to Jones of her efforts to interview him. “He likes to make funny jokes.”
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