Tamron Hall still hosts “Deadline Crime” after NBC ousted her last week. (Lwp Kommunikáció)
New details have emerged about Tamron Hall’s reported next steps after parting ways with NBC and they point toward her taking her talents to Kelly Ripa’s morning show, “Live with Kelly,” which competes with “Today.”
NBC announced on Feb. 1 that Hall declined to renew her contract with them and MSNBC and reports pointed to former Fox News correspondent Megyn Kelly’s arrival to the network this fall as the reason. An insider told Us Weekly the news was actually a shock to Hall, leaving her “a wreck in commercial breaks.”
Someone close to the situation told People magazine Wednesday, Feb. 8, that Hall only got the news days before the decision was made public.
“Just a few days before all of this happened, she received an email [from an executive] congratulating the team for being No. 1,” the source said. “Then, all of a sudden, it was like it vanished: Megyn Kelly is coming onboard and who’s going to have to move? Tamron, that’s who.”
A source told the magazine Hall turned down a multimillion-dollar, multi-year contract to stay on board with NBC and MSNBC. Another insider said Hall was informed of the decision to nix her from the “Today Show” “many months ago.”
“The idea that she could have been at all surprised rings totally false,” the insider said. “In the brief period of time in which she has been part of the 9 a.m. hour ensemble, the ratings have only shrunk. The recent wins over Kelly Ripa were only because that show has tanked in the last several weeks and no network is in the business of being the slowest sinking ship.
“A long-term commitment could not be made to her regarding the 9 a.m. hour,” the source added. “The staff is hurt and bewildered and thinks, once again, Tamron has put herself above the team.”
Several insiders agree the journalist was “furious, hurt and offended” by the change and said Hall saw it as a “demotion.” But a source said she “wasn’t going to settle for sitting on the sidelines.”
One way Hall may be moving on is to team up with Ripa on “Live with Kelly,” which competes with “Today.” A mole told Page Six that Hall, who hosts “Deadline Crime” on Investigation Discovery, was spotted talking about her career with Discovery’s president, Henry Schleiff.
“He was encouraging her to join Kelly,” the mole said. “He said, ‘Throw your hat in the ring! Lighten things up.'”