It may be back to the drawing board for the research department at the “Today” show.
The morning show is going heavy on the Olympics over the next two weeks, with NBC and its family of networks holding the rights to the Paris Games.
On Friday morning, the show hosted the two goalscorers from the U.S. women’s national team’s Olympics-opening 3-0 win over Zambia.
It was all shaping up as standard morning-show fare with guests Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson, before host Hoda Kotb killed the mood with an awkward follow-up for Rodman.
“Did your dad call and give you an ‘attagirl’ after that one?” Kotb inquired.
Handling the moment deftly, Rodman quickly responded: “Nope, but my mom was there. She gave me a big ol’ hug.”
Rodman, of course, is the daughter of NBA legend Dennis Rodman. And as Kotb and the show’s staff should have known, she doesn’t have much of a relationship with the ex-Chicago Bulls star.
The USWNT forward has periodically spoken about her father, but she opened up on their relationship — or lack thereof — in a 2021 post on Instagram.
“My dad doesn’t play a big role in my life at all and most people don’t know that, we don’t see eye to eye on many things,” Rodman said.
“I go months if not years without his presence or communication. Being in spotlights has been hard for us, him and me. We don’t have the best relationship, but at the end of the day he’s human I’m human… he’s my dad, and I’m his little girl that will never change.”
Kudos to Rodman for handling a potentially awkward moment on live TV with grace. As for “The Today Show” — we’ll call that one an own goal.
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