Daily Mail: ABC producers were left scrambling to edit Tamron Hall’s talk show after she confessed to viewers she used to ‘facilitate’ selling cocaine when she was a teenager.
The TV host shocked her studio audience – and network executives – during Tuesday’s taping when she admitted to ‘facilitating’ the sale of the drug with her college boyfriend, sources said.
Production insiders told DailyMail.com Hall’s admission threw ABC for a loop forcing frantic producers to cut it from the pre-recorded program.
It is unclear in which context she made the revelation, but Tuesday’s episode included a segment with former ‘Dirty Jobs’ host Mike Rowe.
Hall told DailyMail.com in a statement that she had never ‘dealt drugs’ and was speaking about ‘part of an ‘open and honest conversation.’
In a statement issued to PEOPLE on Thursday, Hall, 49, claimed “I never dealt drugs” and said that a segment of her show was edited out due to “legal reasons.”
“During an interview with Prison Rights Advocate Topeka Sam, I shared a story about a bad situation I got myself into when I was 19. I never dealt drugs,” said Hall.
“I am now nearly 50 years old and was reflecting on a bad judgement call that could have turned worse,” the talk show host explained. “I say but for the grace of God, there go I.”
“It was part of an open and honest conversation about women, incarceration and mistakes made,” she continued. “For legal reasons a portion of that segment was edited from the show. I hope my show can be a forum for sharing stories without shame or judgement — including a conversation we’re having Friday on opioid addiction.”
Hall’s new ABC talk show, Tamron Hall, premiered last month.
The show’s debut marked the first time that the veteran journalist returned to daytime television after leaving Today two years ago.
In February 2017, after NBC announced that Hall was losing her timeslot co-hosting Today‘s third hour at 9 a.m. to Megyn Kelly, she decided to leave the network.