Today anchor Savannah Guthrie returned to host the show after the studio faced a shocking security breach.
Guthrie, 54, kicked off Monday morning’s broadcast with fellow host Sheinelle Jones, 48, who is filling in for co-anchor Craig Melvin. “We’ve got Sheinelle in for Craig who’s getting a little family vacation,” Guthrie said.
It was Guthrie’s first appearance since an intruder broke into NBC’s Rockefeller Center headquarters in New York City, where Today is filmed. The man, suspected to be Andrew Truelove, allegedly slipped past security and entered the studio. Truelove, 41, was looking for weatherman Al Roker, 71. He found Melvin, 47, lunging toward him while yelling a racist slur. No one was hurt in the incident.
Truelove was detained by security and is now in police custody. He has been charged with menacing as a hate crime, burglary as a hate crime, criminal trespass as a hate crime, and harassment.
The incident was especially triggering for Guthrie, insiders told the Daily Mail, amid her mother’s ongoing disappearance and alleged kidnapping.
On February 1, Nancy Guthrie, 84, was violently abducted from her home in Tucson, Arizona. She has not been seen since.
Guthrie took an extended leave of absence since her mother’s abduction. She returned to the show in April, delivering an emotional thank you to fans and her Today family.
Authorities are continuing their search for Guthrie’s mother. The tragic kidnapping case has captured national attention for months.
NBC News Today confirmed last Thursday’s incident to the Daily Beast, saying in a statement, “There was a security incident this morning at the TODAY show studio. An individual entered an unauthorized area in a vestibule near Studio 1A. The person approached anchor Craig Melvin, who alerted security. The individual was detained and taken into custody by law enforcement without further incident. There was no altercation, and no one was injured.”
NBC and Roker have since taken out a restraining order against the intruder, who is currently being held on Rikers Island. The TV network fired a security guard after the incident.
Guthrie, meanwhile, has reportedly beefed up her own security detail after the incident, reports suggest.
The Today show will soon see Guthrie taking another level of absence, albeit a scheduled one. The NBC star will soon be filming an onscreen special for Wordle, the wildly popular New York Times game.
“We’re about to do it, guys. I’m headed over to shoot Wordle over the next few weeks,” Guthrie announced on Thursday. “We’re gonna shoot the whole season and we’re super excited. Cannot wait for everyone to see it.”
The show will come to NBC primetime next year, with late-night star Jimmy Fallon and The New York Times backing it as production partners.
