Al Roker bolted from Studio 1 mid-broadcast Monday to report for jury duty.
The 72-year-old weatherman had already delivered several weather forecasts during the “Today” show’s live airing from Rockefeller Center when he made his sudden exit, leaving colleagues to scramble and fill the gap. Dylan Dreyer, 45, stepped in to cover his remaining segments while sports reporter Kaylee Hartung handled Roker’s duties on the program’s third hour, which he normally co-hosts alongside Dreyer and Craig Melvin.
“We have Dylan taking over for Al, who had to leave a little bit early,” Savannah Guthrie told viewers during the broadcast.
Dreyer addressed the switch directly, explaining, “Yeah, a little switcheroo again this morning.”
Melvin, 47, offered reassurance about his colleague’s abrupt departure. “Al had to step out for just a little bit. He’ll be back tomorrow,” he said of Roker. “He’ll be back tomorrow.”
Roker documented his courthouse arrival himself in an Instagram video posted from outside a New York City courthouse. “Well, got out of the ‘Today’ show early because I’ve got jury duty,” he said in the clip.
“It’s everybody’s civic duty to do the duty,” he continued, before laughing and adding, “I said duty twice!”
He captioned his video, “Hey now!!! All rise!! Time for #juryduty.”
The morning had begun typically enough for Roker, who posted a gym video showing him on the treadmill, lifting weights and doing balance exercises. “Good morning, @starttoday_ family. Let’s get the week started off right,” he captioned that clip, which played to the theme song from the ’80s sci-fi series “The A-Team.”
The journalist credited his trainer, Jose Garcia, with putting him through his “paces this morning” ahead of “another busy weather week.”
“Remember, #somethingisbetterthannothing Let’s #checkthebox,” he added in that earlier post.
Roker’s forced exit came roughly nine months after a frightening security breach at the “Today” show headquarters. An intruder identified as Andrew Truelove broke into the studio specifically looking for Roker and had a brief 8-10 second confrontation with Melvin, during which he called Melvin the N-word, before being arrested. Truelove was hit with multiple hate crime charges including hate crime menacing, hate crime burglary, hate crime criminal trespass and harassment, with bail set at $10,000. Both Roker and Melvin were granted protective orders against him. Following that incident, Melvin took to Instagram to share a statement, assuring his fans he was “doing just fine.”
The Monday morning personnel shuffle marked another instance of the “Today” team adapting on air to unexpected circumstances, with multiple hosts rotating to keep the broadcast running smoothly in Roker’s absence.
Roker’s jury service interrupted what had shaped up to be a routine Monday on the program, though his early gym session suggested he had anticipated a full day before civic obligations intervened.
Roker is expected to return to his regular “Today” show duties Tuesday.