Sheinelle Jones got support from her Today costars during husband Uche Ojeh’s funeral.
Jenna Bush Hager, Al Roker, Craig Melvin and Savannah Guthrie were spotted leaving the Riverside Church in New York City on Friday, May 30, per photos obtained by Page Six. Roker’s wife, Deborah Roberts, was also in attendance. Hoda Kotb, who left the morning show earlier this year, was also amongst the attendees.
Jones, 47, has been absent from her role as a cohost of the third hour of Today since December 2024. She previously shared via Instagram at the start of this year that she was taking time off to deal with a “family health matter.”
Earlier this month Guthrie, 53, announced on Today that Ojeh had died at age 45 after privately battling the “aggressive form of brain cancer” glioblastoma.
“There are no words for the pain that we feel for Sheinelle and their three young children. Uche was an incredible person. We all loved him,” Guthrie said on air. (Jones and Ojeh, who tied the knot in 2007, shared son Kayin, 15, and twins Clara and Uche, 12.)
Roker called Ojeh a “private guy” who was “wickedly funny” and “humble,” while Bush Hager applauded Jones for finding “the grace in the grief” amid this difficult time.
Following her cohosts’ on-air tributes, Jone broke her silence. “Thank you, for all of your love and support ❤️,” she wrote via Instagram alongside the clip from Today.
Earlier this week, Roker and Dylan Dreyer shared their insight about how the Today family is standing by Jones’ side.
“She’s such a close friend to me and I still don’t have the words. I don’t know what to say,” Dreyer exclusively told Us Weekly at Hoda Kotb’s Joy 101 launch event in New York City on Wednesday, May 28. “I’ve reached out. I don’t want to push too hard. There’s just a lot of things that she must be juggling right now. I mean, I don’t know the right words besides, ‘I’m here. Whenever you need a hug, let me know. I’ll be there in a second.’ And, I mean, I pray for her every night.”
Roker added: “We tend to say, ‘Oh, I know what you’re going through. I know what you’re feeling.’ Nobody knows unless you’ve actually been in that. So, we’re there. We just want to be there and pay tribute to the wonderful person that Uche was and still will be because he’s going to live on in those kids and live in all our memories.”
As Jones continues to mourn Ojeh, she is not expected to return to Today in the near future.
“There is no timing on when she will be back,” a source told Us earlier this week. “Everyone is shocked and just so sad. Everyone can’t imagine what she’s gone through. She left in December and [has] been so quiet [and] focusing on her family.”
