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Jenna Bush Hager Says She’s OK After Real Fall in ‘Today’ April Fools’ Cake Prank

The botched bit shows how tightly planned TV gags can tip into real mishaps when chasing viral moments.

Overview

  • The prank, which aired Wednesday during The Feed on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle, stunned guest host Willie Geist when Jenna Bush Hager dropped a supposed $20,000 cake and slipped on the icing.
  • Bush Hager said the tumble was not planned, and Geist said he only realized it was a gag after she went down.
  • Producers invented the cake and the bakery for April Fools’ Day, using a pre-made dessert that a crew member stripped and re-iced in about 45 minutes.
  • In a Thursday update on the show, Bush Hager said she is fine with no bruise, and Geist apologized for not helping because he thought the fall was part of the act.
  • The viral clip, posted with a note that “the cake was fake, the fall was real,” spotlights morning TV’s drive to engineer internet-ready bits, which Bush Hager had framed earlier with her kids’ AI puppy prank.