‘Today’: Jenna Bush Hager Reveals She Almost Dropped the Bush Name
What To Know
- Jenna Bush Hager revealed she once considered dropping her famous family’s last name.
- She ultimately kept both “Bush” and “Hager” in her professional identity, embracing her background despite initial reservations.
- During the discussion, Scarlett Johansson shared her own views on name changes, emphasizing personal choice and comfort over societal expectations.
Jenna Bush Hager was once desperate to drop her famous family‘s last name.
The reveal came up on the Tuesday, December 2, episode of Today With Jenna & Friends, as Bush Hager and her guest host, Scarlett Johansson, discussed how Millie Bobby Brown changed her name to Millie Bonnie Bongiovi after her wedding to Jake Bongiovi.
Bush Hager and her twin sister, Barbara Bush, are the only children of former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush. For Bush Hager, the desire to drop her family name first came when she began teaching in Washington, D.C., in the early 2000s.
“I went by Ms. Jenna ’cause I didn’t really want them to know [who I was], although, of course, they knew,” she shared. “And so, I was, like, ready to go by Hager.” (Bush Hager tied the knot with her husband, Henry Hager, in 2008.)
“But then, I started at the Today show, and they were like, ‘You wrote a book under Jenna Bush.’ And I was like, ‘Alright, whatever,'” Bush Hager continued. “They were like, ‘People may not know who you are,’ which is so stupid because I’ve been here for 15 years. Anyway, I did both, and I’m fine with it. I actually like having both.”
Earlier in the conversation, Bush Hager asked Johansson whether or not she ever considered changing her last name, to which she said no. “I just had this conversation, weirdly, coincidentally, with my mother-in-law, who’s Dr. Kerry Kelly, Dr. Kelly. And I said, ‘Did you ever consider changing [your name?]’ She was like, ‘Oh, God, no. I would never do that,'” the actress, who is married to Colin Jost, shared. “She was like, ‘Why would anybody do that?'”
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While changing a last name seems like “a lot of paperwork” to Johansson, she has no judgment toward people who choose to do so. “You do what feels comfortable for you,” she stated. “I feel like you shouldn’t be pressured into changing it or not. You’ve got to do what feels right.”
Bush Hager has been in the public eye since her father became President in 2001. She joined Today as a correspondent and contributor before taking over Kathie Lee Gifford‘s hosting role on the fourth hour of Today in 2019. She has continued to cohost the fourth hour (Jenna & Friends) with a variety of celebrity guest hosts since Hoda Kotb exited the show in January.
Last month on Today, Bush Hager said she was surprised when her father appeared on Peyton and Eli Manning‘s Manningcast podcast after previously declining her offer to cohost an episode of Jenna & Friends.
“I’ve actually asked him, and maybe I’ll do a public ask, for him to come and be a ‘friend,’ since he is my father,” she told her Today colleagues on November 19. “Well, he said he was retired, so I was surprised as anyone to see him on [the podcast].”
Though Al Roker suggested that the father-daughter duo host an episode from George’s Texas home, Bush Hager said her father likely wouldn’t agree to the idea. “I’m sure he’ll still say no. He says things like, ‘I don’t watch your dumb show.’ I know!” she quipped.
Today With Jenna & Friends, Weekdays, 10 a.m./9c, NBC
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