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Tamron Hall, whose new daytime talkshow has taken hold in the ratings, is in the midst of controversy after she allegedly admitted to “facilitating” a cocaine drug sale with her college boyfriend. Now she’s coming forward to set the record straight.
According to PEOPLE, Thursday, Hall issued a statement explaining, “I never dealt drugs” and that the segment in question had to be edited out due to “legal reasons.”
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Her statement comes in the wake of a report by the Daily Mail that claimed producers were panicked and made a last minute edit of Tuesday’s episode of her show, because she’d made the confession to her to studio audience.
“During an interview with Prison Rights Advocate Topeka Sam, I shared a story about a bad situation I got myself into when I was 19. I never dealt drugs,” she clarifies. “I am now nearly 50 years old and was reflecting on a bad judgement call that could have turned worse. I say but for the grace of God, there go I.”
“It was part of an open and honest conversation about women, incarceration and mistakes made,” she continued. “For legal reasons a portion of that segment was edited from the show. I hope my show can be a forum for sharing stories without shame or judgement — including a conversation we’re having Friday on opioid addiction.”
READ MORE: Tamron Hall speaks out about her departure from NBC…and their hiring of Megan Kelly
Her new ABC talk show, Tamron Hall, premiered last month and many applauded her return to daytime television after leaving Today two years ago.
“I feel at peace,” she told PEOPLE in September about the new opportunity. “I feel that I have an amazing team and we have put thought and purpose and care into creating this show. We think about the audience and we think about the people who raised us, we think about our friends, we think about those who will watch the show more than we’re thinking about ourselves.”