Jenna Bush Hager recalls horrifying her grandmother Barbara Bush by doing the worm

Raechal ShewfeltFri, June 26, 2026 at 10:27 PM UTC

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Jenna Bush Hager; Barbara BushCredit: Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty; Michael Loccisano/FilmMagicKey Points -

Jenna Bush Hager recalled on Today that she once danced during a family tennis game in a way that did not amuse her late grandparents, George H.W. and Barbara Bush.

Hager said her father, George W. Bush, was entertained by her competitiveness.

But Barbara Bush penned a letter to Hager that said the behavior was "not becoming."

Jenna Bush Hager says her late grandmother, first lady Barbara Bush, was not a fan of the way she acted during one particular family tennis match.

"I'm competitive, and I like performance around competition," Bush, 44, said Thursday while hostingToday with Jenna & Sheinelle. In fact, she said that, as a "full adult," she had been "doing the worm and yelling, 'Not today!'"

Oh, dear.

Hager, the daughter of former President George W. Bush and the granddaughter of former President George H.W. Bush, said her dad found her antics "very funny." Not so much her grandparents, who both died in 2018.

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"My grandfather really believed in sportsmanship, like being really kind and humble and all those things," Hager said. "And I think my … behavior rubbed my grandmother the wrong way, so she wrote me a letter."

She noted that she had been preparing to send her children back to school. (She and husband Henry Hager are the parents of 13-year-old Mila, 10-year-old Poppy, and son Hal, who's 6.)

"The best part is that she addressed it to me and my dad," Hager said. "She was like, 'That behavior on the tennis court was not becoming. And George, you shouldn't have cheered her on, either.'"

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The former first lady added, "'P.S. Throw this letter away and don't tell anybody about it.'"

For all her prim and properness, Bush did have a sense of humor.

Former First Lady Barbara Bush and former President George H.W. Bush with their granddaughters Barbara and Jenna in 2005Credit: Robert Sullivan / POOL via Bloomberg

For instance, she made light of her supposed feud with Marge Simpson — yes, the animated TV character — after having insulted The Simpsons. She called the show "the dumbest thing I've ever seen," in a conversation with PEOPLE.

In response, the show's writers wrote Bush a letter of their own in the voice of Marge.

"I recently read your criticism of my family. I was deeply hurt," Marge said. "Heaven knows we're far from perfect and, if truth be known, maybe just a wee bit short of normal; but as Dr. Seuss says, 'a person is a person.'"

Bush answered with an apology.

"How kind of you to write," the first lady wrote. "I am glad you spoke your mind; I foolishly didn't know you had one. I am looking at a picture of you, depicted on a plastic cup, with your blue hair filled with pink birds peeking out all over. Evidently, you and your charming family — Lisa, Homer, Bart and Maggie — are camping out. It is a nice family scene. Clearly you are setting a good example for the rest of the country. Please forgive a loose tongue."

She added in a P.S. that "Homer looks like a handsome fella!"

on Entertainment Weekly

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