Daniel Kaluuya made a memorable speech Sunday night when he won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in “Judas and the Black Messiah.” It also made for a cringeworthy parenting moment for Jenna Bush Hager.
Jenna says daughter Mila, who turned 8 earlier this month, was in bed with her when Kaluuya made the reference to his parents having sex in his speech, prompting Jenna to think on her feet while she and husband Henry scrambled to answer a tricky question.
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“Mila snuck in and was laying next to me,” she told co-host Hoda Kotb Monday on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna about how she was reading a book while the Oscars were on.
“I said to Henry, ‘Isn’t there something beautiful about having a baby in bed with you on a Sunday night?’ She said, ‘I want to be an actress. Can I watch a little of the Oscars?’ Harmless, right?”
Err, not so fast, Jenna.
“He does his acceptance speech for best supporting actor and it was really beautiful and his mom was in the audience,” Jenna said.
“And Mila said, ‘Is that his mom?’ And I said, ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘But I’m still trying to read.’ And then all of a sudden, his speech gets a little windy and he says, ‘It’s beautiful to be alive. I want to thank my mom and my dad for having sex.’ Now I’m worried, he said that. And then Mila said, ‘Mommy, what’s sex?’” Jenna recalled, as Hoda began laughing.
Jenna, who has experienced Mila crashing her show and her "Read With Jenna" Instagram chat, quickly decided that was not the time to have that conversation with her daughter.
“And for some reason, on a Sunday night, in bed with my daughter reading a book, I couldn’t go there,” she said. “I said, ‘No, he said, “Sixty-six!” Six! Six is a number!’ And she looked at me with her little eyes, like, ‘You’re lying.’ Henry was like, ‘This wasn’t a good idea.’”
And while it was an uncomfortable moment, both Hoda and Jenna agreed Kaluuya delivered an otherwise wonderful speech.
“It was so harmless in the moment,” Hoda said.
“It was actually an awesome speech,” Jenna said.
It remains to be seen if Mila feels the same way.