It’s not every day that a morning show queen like Savannah Guthrie gets real about a professional misstep, but this one is on point and perfectly considered.
During Monday’s episode of Today, Savannah was asked point-blank if she had any major regrets in her career. And without hesitation, she dove headfirst into a moment that still clearly weighs on her more than a decade later: the time she blindsided Khloé Kardashian with a question about whether Robert Kardashian or OJ Simpson was her real father.
Related: Khloé Kardashian’s Kids Are SO BIG In Adorable New Photos!
Savannah recalled the 2012 interview that still haunts her, remembering how the show’s producers at the time had pushed her to ask what she called the “dishy question” about Khloé’s alleged paternity. And she did it!!! …But with major hesitation. Guthrie explained:
“I asked Khloé Kardashian, like, ten seconds before we were going to break about the rumors that her father wasn’t her father.”
Ten seconds before a commercial break?! Talk about a mic drop… and run. Savannah said she waited until the last possible second because she was, in her words, “so embarrassed.” Which, wow! That shows even the most polished anchors can feel icky about the pressure to chase ratings over compassion.
But in true Khloé fashion, the reality TV veteran kept her cool. Savannah remembered the Good American founder as a “class act,” and recalled how the Revenge Body host responded at the time:
“She was like, ‘Ah, nothing to it.’”
Class act, indeed!
The context matters here, too. Back in 2012, those paternity rumors were hitting a fever pitch. People — internet sleuths, tabloids, trolls — had long pointed out that Khloé didn’t quite look like her siblings, and a theory that she resembled OJ instead of Robert Kardashian was catching fire. It didn’t help that OJ and Robert, with the latter serving as part of the former NFL star’s high-profile team of attorneys during that infamous 1994 murder trial.
The whispers got so loud at one point that Khloé’s own family reportedly encouraged her to take a paternity test to silence the noise. But she stood her ground, and on a long-ago episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, she refused. Her reasoning was as simple and powerful: her dad is Robert Kardashian.
Even OJ denied the rumors prior to his death from cancer in 2024. Two years before that, he told the Full Send podcast that “the rumor ain’t true … it’s not even anywhere close to being true.”
As KarJenner old heads know, Khloé’s momma Kris Jenner was married to Robert from 1978 to 1991, and together they raised Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Rob. After their marriage ended, Robert remained a central figure in the Kardashian family until his death from esophageal cancer at just 59 years old in 2003.
And now, years later, Savannah Guthrie is finally lamenting her part in adding to the noise. Yes, journalists DO publicly admit when they got something wrong! Credit where credit is due!
[Image via Today Show/YouTube/MEGA/WENN]
