Savannah Guthrie cringed when she opened up about her most embarrassing interview ever, and it involved a member of one of the most famous families in the US.
The Today show anchor, 53, and her co-host Craig Melvin, 45, were asked about their most discomfiting moments on air by Andy Cohen on his Sirius XM show Radio Andy on Thursday.
While Melvin said it was a ‘long list’ for him, the cringeworthy experience seemed to be still fresh in Guthrie’s mind.
‘So Khloé Kardashian was on, this was really early on, I think,’ after being named co-anchor of the morning news staple.
‘She’s my favorite Kardashian,’ interjected Cohen, 56.
‘She’s a doll,’ Guthrie agreed, continuing, ‘She was on there had been these stories circulating in the press that her father Robert Kardashian (who died in 2003) wasn’t really her father.’
Savannah Guthrie, 53, has opened up about her most embarrassing interview ever, and it involved a member of one of the most famous families in the US, the Kardashians; seen in October in NYC
From left: Khloe Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian, Kim Kardashian West and Kylie Jenner attend Kanye West Yeezy Season 3 in NYC in 2016
Cohen added, the gossip was that OJ Simpson, who was acquitted of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman, was the biological father.
Robert Kardashian was a member of Simpson’s defense team in the court case known as ‘The Trial of the Century.’
Kardashian’s then-wife Kris Jenner, was good friends with Nicole Simpson.
‘I can’t even remember the details,’ Guthrie said, ‘but, I know the producers at the time, none of whom are here today, really wanted me to ask and I was very embarrassed to ask such a question.’
Kardashian was scheduled to talk about the new reality show, Khloé & Lamar, featuring herself and then-husband Lamar Odem.
The morning show host said she reluctantly followed orders, but she ‘did what any naive green anchor would do, which is leave it to the last,’ as Melvin chuckled.
‘At the Today show, we have a thing called the “hard out,” and the “hard out” means you have to be done. The show is going to black at such and such time,’ she explained.
When she had 10 seconds left to go, Guthrie did the deed.
The Today show anchor, 53, was asked about her most discomfiting moments on air by Andy Cohen on his Sirius XM show Radio Andy on Thursday
Guthrie revealed the Kardashian involved in the embarrassing exchange was with Khloé, 40, while she was on the morning show promoting her new reality show, Khloé & Lamar, featuring herself and then-husband Lamar Odem in 2012
At the time, there were rumors that Khloé’s biological father was not the late Robert Kardashian, who died in 2003, but the late OJ Simpson, who was a family friend and who Robert Kardashian defended during his 1994 murder trial
Guthrie, who appeared on the radio show with co-host Craig Melvin, said Today producers at the time told her to ask the question, and she she ‘did what any naive green anchor would do, which is leave it to the last,’ few seconds of the interview
‘And God bless her — if I saw her today, I’d hug her for this — I don’t know if she’s such a pro that she saw them counting down, like three, two … and she said, “Yep, I know. Nothing to it.” And I was like, “And we’ll be right back.” She saved my butt,’ Guthrie said
‘I said, “Khloé, just real quickly, in the seconds we have, there have been some stories that Robert Kardashian is not your father. Is he?”‘ she recalled.
‘And God bless her — if I saw her today, I’d hug her for this — I don’t know if she’s such a pro that she saw them counting down, like three, two …
‘And she said, “Yep, I know. Nothing to it.” And I was like, “And we’ll be right back.” She saved my butt.’
Two years before his death in April 2024, Simpson, who had spent nine years of a 33 year sentence for armed robbery in Las Vegas for attempting to illegally recover personal items, cleared the air as well, but not without shading the woman who thought he was guilty of double murder.
‘People have their types, right? I always thought Kris was a cute girl,’ he said on the Full Send podcast. ‘She was really nice. But I was dating supermodels. The rumor ain’t true. It’s not even anywhere close to being true.’
