What To Know
- NBC’s Today implemented stricter security measures at 30 Rockefeller Center following the abduction of Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, and a separate intruder incident involving Craig Melvin and Al Roker.
- Staff have welcomed the new security protocols, which include tighter studio access and limits on the number of guests and support personnel.
- Nancy Guthrie, Savannah’s 84-year-old mother, remains missing over seven months after her abduction in Tucson, Arizona.
NBC ramped up security at Today after Savannah Guthrie‘s mother Nancy Guthrie‘s abduction — and after an intruder incident involving Craig Melvin and Al Roker.
In a Page Six article published on September 10, an insider told the outlet that several new layers of security updates went into effect at 30 Rockefeller Center.
“It’s a relief,” they told the outlet “It was much-needed and took longer than people would have liked, but it does feel a lot better now.”
A second source shared, “Staffers are more than willing to oblige with the new protocols. It hasn’t been seen as a [burden].”
In July, a man made it into the Today studio and allegedly approached Melvin while looking for Roker and saying racial slurs.
“There was a security incident this morning at the Today show studio,” the NBC morning show said in a statement that Melvin shared via Instagram. “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.”
Shortly after the intruder incident, Variety revealed new Today safety protocols that Today staff emailed to PR firms.
“We wanted to reach out with an important update regarding studio access for Today interviews,” the memo read. “In light of the recent events last week, we are implementing stricter security protocols effective immediately.”
At the time, the main change prohibited guests from bringing more than two people to the studio. Other “support personnel” would be required to wait in the green room.
Meanwhile, Today had reportedly increased security after Savannah’s 84-year-old mother was abducted in Tucson, Arizona, on February 1. Nancy remains missing more than seven months later, with no suspects named in her disappearance.
Today, Weekdays, 7 am/6c, NBC