How Khloe Kardashian Came to the Rescue on ‘The Today Show’: Savannah Guthrie Shares Embarrassing Moment

Savannah Guthrie opened up about one of the most “embarrassing” moments from her Today Show tenure that has stuck with her over the years.

During a recent interview on Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM show Radio Andy, Guthrie reflected on one of her early interviews on The Today Show after she became an anchor in 2012. She shared that the Today Show producers had pressured her to ask Khloé Kardashian about rumors questioning the paternity of her father, Robert Kardashian.

Guthrie recalled, “There were rumors in the press suggesting that Robert Kardashian may not be her biological father.” Cohen chimed in, mentioning that some people believed O.J. Simpson could be Khloé’s biological father. Guthrie mentioned that even though she doesn’t recall all the details, the producers at that time, who are no longer with the show, insisted that she ask the question, which made her feel very uncomfortable.

Guthrie said she “did what any naive, green anchor would do” and waited until the final moments of the interview to finally raise the topic.

Explaining the situation further, Guthrie mentioned a practice at The Today Show known as the “hard out.” She clarified, “At the Today show, we have a thing called the ‘hard out.’ And the ‘hard out’ means you have to be done. The show is going to black at such and such time.”

Much to Cohen’s shock, Guthrie said there were about 10 seconds left in the interview when she finally asked about the rumors.

“I said, ‘Khloé, just real quickly, in the seconds we have, there have been some stories that Robert Kardashian is not your father. Is he?’” she recalled.

“And God bless her — if I saw her today, I’d hug her for this — I don’t know if she’s such a pro that she saw them counting down, like three, two … and she said, ‘Yep, I know. Nothing to it.’ And I was like, ‘And we’ll be right back.’ She saved my butt.”

In the 2012 interview, Guthrie asked the question as the show began to go to commercial.

“Actually, I think we’re out of time. Nothing more to say about what people said about your father, your biological father?” she asked Khloé, who playfully responded, “I don’t know who my daddy is, I guess. I don’t know.”

Robert was part of Simpson’s legal team when he was on trial for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in 1994. The former NFL star was also a close friend of the Kardashian family.

Simpson denied the rumors again in 2022 during an appearance on the Full Send podcast, maintaining, “It’s not even anywhere close to being true.”