Jenna Bush Hager on Jimmy Kimmel Drama: Public Figures Taking Jokes Is ‘Part of the Job’

“You understand it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it,” Kimmel said on Tuesday, September 23. “I posted a message on Instagram on the day he was killed asking compassion for his family, and I meant it. I still do. Nor did I mean to blame any specific group for the actions of a specific individual. That was actually the opposite of the point I was trying to make. For those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset. If the situation were reversed, there’s a good chance I would’ve felt the same way.”

Noting that Kimmel’s monologue was “beautifully done,” Bush Hager said she longs for a country “where people that have different opinions sit at the same table and have conversations.”

Bush Hager went on to address how many fans viewed Kimmel’s ABC suspension as an attack on free speech by the FCC and President Donald Trump‘s administration. “When [Kimmel] said, ‘A show like this that can make jokes at people in power,’ that’s part of what our country is founded on,” she stated before using her own family as an example.

“Dana Carvey played my grandpa [former president George H.W. Bush] on Saturday Night Live,” Bush Hager shared. “I remember reading stuff about him where I was like, ‘Oh gosh,’ like as a little kid, like, ‘That hurts and that’s not the man that I know,’ and that’s part of the job. But anyway, Dana Carvey played my grandpa, and after he lost, which — my grandfather was devastated, he felt like he didn’t finish the job. He felt like he let down his staff. … He had Dana come to the White House to make fun of him after he lost so that he could cheer up his staff who was disappointed upon the results.”

She continued, “We laughed hysterically at some of it. And I think that’s part of it, too, is that you can’t take yourself so seriously.”

Bush Hager said she feels “so lucky to work at a show where people that have different opinions and believe different things, watch, come together,” as well as recalled that she and her former cohost, Hoda Kotb, would “joke” that their job was not as objectively important compared to other public figures.

However, Bush Hager said she and her Today colleagues still have a profound impact on others through the show. “We keep people company,” she explained. “We try to make people feel better. We try to let people take off the heavy backpack and have some laughs and some relief, and that’s a privilege.”

While Jimmy Kimmel Live! is officially back on air for many, the broadcasting companies Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar will continue to preempt the series on several local ABC affiliates across the country.

Today With Jenna & Friends, Weekdays, 10 a.m. ET, NBC

Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Weeknights, 11:35 p.m. ET, ABC

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