Bette Midler Tearfully Shuts Down Hoda Kotb’s Questioning During Emotional ‘Today’ Interview: “Please Don’t Make Me Cry”

Bette Midler and Hoda Kotb sat down for a moving interview on Today With Hoda & Jenna, in which the actress looked back on her prolific career ahead of her new movie, The Fabulous Four.

But Midler is a comedy legend first and foremost, so she deployed her thrilling sense of humor throughout her chat with Kotb, even when the Today host turned the conversation over to her late father.

“When was your dad the proudest of you?” Kotb asked.

Midler explained that her father was not a huge fan of her being in the industry because he was a “working class guy.”

“My dad was the problem, my dad never liked any of it,” she said. “I loved him with all my heart.”

“In the end he wrote me a note, and… Please don’t make me cry,” she added, with tears welling in her eyes. She then cut herself short, adding, “He wrote me a really nice note. Moving on!”

Even through her tears, she began to tease Kotb. “You’re just like Barbara Walters, she used to do that too,” she joked.

Kotb, who also lost her father when she was 21 years old, told Midler, “You know what? Every kid dreams of a note at the end, there are so many things that are unanswered. Did it answer or did it fill anything [for you]?”

“I know, so many things unsaid,” she replied. “It answered everything. It did.”

The actress appeared on Today to promote her new ensemble comedy, The Fabulous Four, which also stars Sheryl Lee Ralph, Megan Mullally and Susan Sarandon.

Directed by Jocelyn Morehouse, the film follows a group of college friends who travel to Key West to be bridesmaids in their friend’s wedding. Midler stars as the vibrant Marilyn, a TikToker who decided to get remarried just two months after her husband’s death.

The Fabulous Four premieres in theaters July 26. Today with Hoda & Jenna airs on weekdays at 10/9c on NBC.