“Today” Show co-host Savannah Guthrie was noticeably absent from the show on Friday morning, February 16, 2024. At the top of the show, fellow co-host Hoda Kotb simply explained that Guthrie “was off this morning,” and Craig Melvin filled her spot on the show.

Where was Guthrie? On a book tour for her new book “Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere.” She actually had a stop in Texas the previous day and co-host Jenna Bush Hager’s parents showed up to support her. That would be former President George W. Bush and his wife former First Lady Laura Bush. That’s quite the way to kick off a book tour!

Yet fans of “Today” were not excited about Guthrie’s book tour. Instead, they were upset about an interview that aired on “Today” on Thursday. Before leaving for her book tour, Guthrie interviewed singer and actress Kelly Rowland about her upcoming Netflix film “Mea Cupla.”

During the interview, Guthrie asked Rowland about the film, which she described as an “erotic thriller,” but that wasn’t all she asked her about. She asked her about another celebrity, and that’s when fans got upset.

Guthrie showed footage from 25 years earlier when Rowland was on the show as a member of the girl group Destiny’s Child, which also featured Beyoncé. During the interview, Guthrie asked, “What do you think about your friend Beyoncé? She’s like your sister, you guys literally grew up together – she’s stepping into country.”

Yahoo! reports that while fans praised the way Rowland handled the questions, they felt that it was in bad taste to ask a celebrity about another celebrity friend during an interview. For example, on X (formerly Twitter), one fan wrote, “Very disrespectful to ask as accomplished entertainer as @KELLYROWLAND about Beyoncé every freaking time she comes on your show.”

Fans were even more upset that Guthrie seemed insistent to get more information about Beyoncé. Watch the video below to see the entire interview yourself.

Do you think it was disrespectful of Guthrie to ask Rowland about Beyoncé?