


Today host Jenna Bush Hager has been in the limelight since her father, George W. Bush, took office in 2001, meaning most of her college years were chronicled in the headlines – including the time she was arrested for underaged drinking.
She recently reflected on how having her youth “documented” in such a way could impact her children as she and Hoda Kotb discussed Rihanna’s recent comments about regretting some of her past fashion choices now that she’s a mother of two. Bush Hager admitted could certainly relate after the childhood she had.
“The weird thing about life now is, no matter what you did, everybody who is young right now who’s going to grow up and have kids, they’re going to see documentation of your stuff,” Kotb said. She then turned to Bush Hager and said, “At least we can be like, ‘Let me tell you a story about what we did.’ Except for you, you’re documented.”
Bush Hager knew she could not relate as she joked that her younger days were certainly “documented.”
She noted that, with social media, some kids feel like they “need to live up to some sort of expectation or image” and strive for perfection.
“I hope that we teach our kids, one, that they can make mistakes, and I feel like in the world of social media that’s hard. And, two, that they can evolve,” Bush Hager told her co-host. “Like I’m not the 19, 20-year-old kid who underaged drank and maybe I am to other people, but in my mind, I’m like, ‘I’m a mom.'”
Kotb agreed, pointing out that the incident Bush Hager was referring to happened “forever ago.”
“Can’t we tell our kids and our leaders that they’re more than what they are when they come up on Google?” Bush Hager replied. “We have to somehow change that because if kids aren’t able to make mistakes…”
The incident in question happened in 2001 when her father was still POTUS. Bush Hager once spoke about it on Today and appeared to blame the incident on the waitress serving her, claiming the server called the cops because “she didn’t like my dad.”
But, Bush Hager admitted, “To her credit, that was dumb. I mean, my dad was the president.”
She clarified, “Well, I didn’t actually go to jail, I just was arrested. I wasn’t even arrested, I was never detained. I just got a minor in possession of alcohol when I was 20-years-old because I ordered a margarita at Chuy’s with a fake ID.”
The incident made headlines, with the BBC noting that it was the second time Bush Hager had been busted for underaged drinking.
Today with Hoda and Jenna airs on weekdays at 10/9c on NBC.