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‘Today’ Host Speaks Out After Facing Down Racist Attacker

Craig Melvin gave his first public comments about the in-studio attack.

A Today show anchor is speaking out after an intruder on the NBC set yelled a racist slur and lunged at him.

Craig Melvin, 47, said he’s “doing just fine” after the attack, which occurred off-air Thursday morning. The unidentified man who slipped by security was apparently looking for weatherman Al Roker, 71, but focused his attention on Melvin instead, yelling the N-word at him and lunging at him. Melvin wasn’t hurt, and his attacker was grabbed by security and arrested.

STUDIO HORROR

Racist Attacker Lunges at ‘Today’ Host After Storming Studio

Lauren Hartley

“Hey everyone,” Melvin wrote on X on Thursday afternoon. “I’ve heard from so many of you over the last few hours. I’m doing just fine. Thanks for reaching out. I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow morning on @TODAYshow.”

Melvin also shared a statement from the morning show:

“There was a security incident this morning at the TODAY show studio. An individual entered an unauthorized area in a vestibule near Studio 1A. The person approached anchor Craig Melvin, who alerted security. The individual was detained and taken into custody by law enforcement without further incident. There was no altercation, and no one was injured.”

Melvin, who has been with the Today show since 2018 and was promoted to co-anchor last January, went to air with Roker after the incident. Neither addressed it on the broadcast.

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Roker has not yet commented publicly on what transpired.

A veteran weatherman, Roker has been a fixture on NBC’s morning show for decades. Since 1995, he has hosted the network’s coverage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade every year but one.

Beyond NBC, Roker has been a celebrity player on Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, and has hosted ABC’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and shows on the Food Network. He also created Weather Hunters, an animated show on PBS Kids.

Roker has three children: daughter Courtney from his first marriage, and Leila and Nick with wife Deborah Roberts, an ABC News correspondent.

Melvin, before assuming his current role on Today, was an anchor for the network now known as MS NOW. He has two children, ages 12 and 9, with wife Lindsay Czarniak, a former ESPN anchor.

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