Today present intruder arrested after ‘lunging’ at Craig Melvin, yelling racial slur

A man has been detained after an alarming confrontation at the Today show studio.

On Thursday morning, an intruder slipped past security at NBC at Rockefeller Plaza and confronted the morning show’s co-host, Craig Melvin, the NYPD told TMZ.

After first asking for longtime Today host Al Roker, the man allegedly lunged at Melvin while yelling a racial slur as he followed him into a restricted area at around 9 a.m. Eastern, according to police.

Staff and security workers then rushed in and detained the man, who has not yet been publicly identified, at the studio.

No one was hurt in the altercation, officials said. The incident was not captured during the show’s broadcast, and the hosts returned to the air shortly after.

NBC did not immediately answer The Independent’s request for comment about how the intruder was able to get into the studio.

The Independent has reached out to NYPD for comment.

Melvin, who was named a co-anchor of Today in 2018, has not commented on the security scare, and reposted an Instagram Story shortly after the incident that showed him posing with The Odyssey actors Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland.

The NBC staple replaced Hoda Kotb as Savannah Guthrie’s co-anchor in the show’s first two hours in January 2025.

Thursday’s intrusion came after Guthrie announced on air that she will be taking several weeks off of the morning show to film her new Wordle game show, which is executive produced by Jimmy Fallon.

“We’re about to do it. Guys, I’m headed over to shoot Wordle over the next few weeks,” she said. “We’re going to shoot the whole season and we’re super excited.”

“I can’t wait for everyone to see it. It’ll probably air, I think, in the new year.”

More follows on this breaking news story. Subscribe here to get the latest updates from The Independent