Today’s Hoda Kotb Recalls Meeting Taylor Swift for the 1st Time: ‘Polite and in Charge’

Hoda Kotb will never forget the first time she met Taylor Swift. The Today host opened up about meeting the “Cruel Summer” singer while filming a Dateline episode.

“Way back in the day when she was just having one of her first concerts, they [producers] sent me for a Dateline [episode],” Hoda, 59, told guest cohost Sheinelle Jones on Today With Hoda and Jenna on Monday, June 24. “And I won’t forget it because I thought she was just like a teenager.”

“We were walking around on the set, and she goes, ‘So, Hoda, I’m gonna be here and here.’ And she goes, ‘Uh, excuse me, guys, guys? Excuse me,'” she recalled. “And they go, ‘Yeah?’ She goes, ‘I need a kick light here.’ And I looked at this girl and I thought to myself: polite and in charge. Both things.”

“And I thought, this is a kid who probably people said, ‘Look, honey, I’ve lit this room for the greatest, so you just leave it to me,’” Hoda added.

“I love that story,” Sheinelle, 46, chimed in. “Because you see her on stage and you realize, this girl, she’s been working for years, you know, on her craft.”

“She knows what she wants. She is who she is,” Hoda concluded. “And she knows what she likes, she trusts herself as opposed to every other voice around her.”

In May 2023, Hoda attended Taylor’s Eras tour at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. She shared a series of photos from the concert with her pals on Instagram, writing, “@njtransit was the only way to get to @taylorswift Epic concert friday night!!”

During an episode of Today after the concert, Hoda gushed over how much fun she had, revealing she chatted with Swifties on the way to the show.

“This is what I love about Swifties, they’re like this: ‘You don’t have enough glitter.’ In a bag, they had adhesive gems,” she reflected on her train ride. “People make bracelets that say the names of all of her songs.”

“I just was so mesmerized,” Hoda added. “The music was incredible. It was like going to Woodstock or some kind of event!”

During a November 2023 episode of her podcast, the Hope Is a Rainbow author revealed which one of Taylor’s songs makes her the most emotional. Hoda explained that she has a special connection to the song “Enchanted” because it makes her think of a moment she had with her youngest daughter, Hope.

“I was with Hope yesterday, and you know that song ‘Enchanted’ by Taylor Swift?” she asked Erin Andrews during an episode of her “Making Space podcast. “So enchanted to meet you?”

“I’m looking at Hope, and she’s looking at me, and the song comes on. And all of a sudden, I get [choked up],” Hoda explained before revealing that “enchanted” was the first word that came to mind when she adopted Hope in 2019. “I’m looking at Hope, and she’s looking at me, and the song comes on. And all of a sudden I get [choked up].”

“I go, ‘Hopey, the first time you were placed in my arms I realized that was the word,’” she shared. “I said, ‘Enchanted means it’s more than delighted — it’s the biggest word.'”

Hoda is also a mom to daughter Haley, who is also a Swiftie. Both she and her sister wore matching shirts that said “Go Taylor’s Boyfriend” during Super Bowl LVIII, showing support for the artist’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs.