An individual accused of disrupting the “Today” show set was reportedly visible in the background of the broadcast just moments before allegedly entering the studio unlawfully, demanding to see anchor Al Roker, and directing a racial slur at anchor Craig Melvin, according to a video.
Andrew Truelove, 41, is charged with bypassing security at 30 Rock and accessing a restricted area near Studio 1A on Thursday around 9 a.m. He allegedly shouted “Where is Roker?” and then used a racial slur against Melvin.
Video footage from the “news at 8” segment of Thursday’s show appears to capture Truelove while Melvin and Savannah Guthrie reported on a great white shark approaching Cape Cod.
A person resembling Truelove is seen over Guthrie’s right shoulder through the studio window, with a police officer positioned over Melvin’s left shoulder.
The individual is observed pacing and vaping while wearing the same sweat-soaked, drab-colored collared shirt and gray shorts that Truelove wore during his arrest, according to photos.
Truelove allegedly trailed a staff member who used their ID badge to access an “employee’s only area,” as stated by Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Millicent Kastenbaum.
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Jeffrey Gershuny set Truelove’s bail at $10,000 and issued a protective order preventing him from approaching the “Today” show anchors.
Following the unsettling incident, Guthrie left New York, being spotted trying to maintain a low profile at LaGuardia Airport on Friday.
She plans to take a weeks-long break to work on her upcoming game show based on the New York Times game Wordle.
Guthrie had previously returned on April 6 from a two-month leave of absence after her mother Nancy disappeared in February.
In the aftermath, NBC News dismissed a security guard who reportedly allowed the intruder to enter the studio.
Truelove has faced at least eight arrests in New York City since July 2025, primarily for criminal mischief, according to police and law enforcement sources.
His criminal activities outside New York include a 2012 arrest in Virginia for stealing signs from playgrounds honoring Sandy Hook mass shooting victims, as confirmed by sources.
In 2007, Truelove was sentenced to four years in prison for abduction after he went to a Virginia high school armed with a lug wrench and seized an 8-year-old girl by her backpack straps, as reported by the Virginian-Pilot at the time.
