Hoda Kotb Recalls Being “The Lowest Paid Correspondent” On ‘Dateline’ In 1998: “I Couldn’t Pay All My Bills”

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager dove into a candid conversation about equal pay on Wednesday’s (Sept. 20) Today With Hoda & Jenna after discussing the recent news that Wheel of Fortune mainstay Vanna White finally secured her first raise in almost 18 years on the show.

The news shocked the co-hosts, though they both appeared to understand how difficult it can be to ask for a raise.

“I think it’s one of the hardest things for women to do. I know for years I was definitely making a fraction of what my male co-anchors were making,” Kotb admitted. “I actually never asked because I didn’t want to be difficult.”

She then looked back at when she began working at NBC as a Dateline correspondent in April 1998.

“When I first came here I think i was the lowest paid correspondent at Dateline, it was pretty clear at the time,” she told Bush Hager. “I remember thinking to myself, I can’t pay my bills here, I couldn’t pay all my bills at the same time. So I was like, I’ll pay this one, and then pay that one.”

Bush Hager added, “I think it’s important we teach our girls to both be humble, to work hard, but then not be afraid to ask for what they deserve.”

Kotb then emotionally added, “Both things can be true. You can have grace and humility and still ask for what you deserve. Both of those things can happen at the same time.”

Both co-hosts then took a deep sigh as they turned back to the camera.

“I’m glad Vanna got her money,” Kotb said. “I mean, lucky Ryan Seacrest that he gets to work with her, don’t you think?”

White has been wrapped up in contentious contract negotiations for months with Sony. Just this week, she finally extended her Wheel of Fortune contract for two more years and scored the pay raise she had been negotiating for, though details of her raise have not been publicly disclosed. She also secured a separate pay raise for Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.

Previous reports claimed White demanded the same pay, if not more, as longtime host Pat Sajak. She hadn’t received a pay raise in almost 18 years despite turning letters on the show for 41 years. But negotiations with Sony reportedly did not go smoothly.

“Vanna was told, ‘If you fight this, you will lose your job. You’re lucky to have the job.’ And when people tell you that for so long, you believe it,’” a source claimed while negotiations were underway this summer.

This good news means White will be joining Seacrest on stage after he takes over for Sajak when he retires in 2024.

Today with Jenna and Hoda airs on weekdays at 10/9c on NBC.