Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager Defend Olivia Culpo’s Wedding Dress

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager are not here for critics of Olivia Culpo’s wedding dress.

“Her wedding dress is causing a real stir online,” Kotb, 59, said during the Tuesday, July 9, episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna, noting that the gown is “stunning and beautiful, as is she.”

Kotb and Bush Hager, 42, agreed that the long-sleeve Dolce & Gabbana dress, which was paired with a 16-foot lace veil, is “very classic.”

“I guess the internet was divided over it, even though we think she looks beautiful,” Bush Hager said, while Kotb added that she doesn’t “like reading negative comments from trolls. I really don’t.”

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The cohosts lifted their glasses, filled with a Hugo Spritz, and said cheers after Kotb’s remark.

“Why does anybody feel like they get to comment on how she’s dressed? She looks beautiful,” Bush Hager continued. “People were down in their basement saying she’s too covered up. You can’t win.”

As for one of Culpo’s other looks — a strapless mini dress with a birdcage-like skirt, choker and sheer gloves — Bush Hager noted that it was a “beautiful number.”

“Everything is beautiful. Live your life,” Kotb said, while Bush Hager added, “Who cares?”

Culpo, 31, tied the knot with San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey last month in a Watch Hill, Rhode Island chapel.

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“I wanted something that felt as serious as that commitment,” Culpo told Vogue in an interview published in June. “I didn’t want it to exude sex in any way, shape or form. I wanted it to feel effortless and as if it’s complimenting me, not overpowering me. There’s so much beauty and simplicity.”

Culpo, who began dating McCaffrey, now 28, in 2019, noted that she had the NFL player on her mind when collaborating with Dolce & Gabbana to create her look.

“When I think about Christian and what he loves and the moments that he thinks that I’m most beautiful, it’s absolutely in something like this: timeless, covered, and elegant,” Culpo told the outlet.

After the ceremony, Culpo opted for another outfit change, wearing an “ethereal” off-the-shoulder draped gown before capping the night with her mini dress.

“I would say my second favorite next to my ceremony dress, which will be the most important dress I’ve ever worn in my life, is the afterparty dress,” Culpo shared with Vogue in a TikTok video. “It’s so unique.”