Sheinelle Jones Recalls Seeing AI Image of Her Kids in Fake Katie Couric Interview After Her Husband’s Death: ‘Wanted So Badly to Comment’

Rachel McRadyMon, September 28, 2026 at 3:57 PM UTC

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Sheinelle Jones and Jenna Bush Hager discuss fake A.I. images surrounding the death of her husband, Uche Ojeh, on Sept. 28, 2026Credit: NBC -

Sheinelle Jones opened up about her experience seeing AI content about her and her family after her husband Uche Ojeh’s death

A fake story about Jones and her kids in a fabricated Katie Couric interview deeply upset her

Jones has kept her children out of the spotlight since her husband’s death, prioritizing their privacy and protection

Sheinelle Jones is opening up about how fake AI stories and photos impacted her during a particularly painful time in her life.

The 48-year-old Today with Jenna & Sheinelle co-host and mother of three has been public about her grief journey since the March 2025 death of her beloved husband, Uche Ojeh. Ojeh died at age 45 after being diagnosed with glioblastoma, leaving Jones as a single mother to Kayin, 17, and twins Clara and Uche Jr., both 14.

On Monday, Sept. 28, Jones opened up about the time she took an extended leave of absence from Today in the final months of her husband’s life and following his tragic death. After discussing fake AI images of singer Raye and Michael B. Jordan at the MTV VMAs, Jones shared how she experienced a similar situation.

Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones discuss fake A.I. images of their families.Credit: NBC

“Gosh, I had it, times a billion and it was awful,” Jones recalled. “I remember when I was on leave — ‘Sheinelle Jones: Pictures with Her Husband’ — at one time I was on Facebook and it fooled me. Then I started thinking about where we were and who got in there. It fooled me, and it’s me! Then I looked closely and I was like, ‘Wait a minute, this is not real.’ It had a picture of his big hair and that’s not how he had his hair.”

Jones said she’s not the only member of her family who has been fooled.

Sheinelle Jones talks about how fake A.I. images impacted her during a difficult time on Sept. 28, 2026Credit: NBC

“It’s caught my mom,” she shared. “She’ll call me, ‘Oh my gosh, I saw these cute pictures with you and the kids. I’m so glad you’re doing blah, blah, blah.’ ”

But, perhaps, her most painful experience with fake images came from a fake story about Jones and her kids.

“There was this one, I was on Facebook — and you tell me what I should do — I’m on Facebook. It was like, ‘Sheinelle Jones and Her Family Sits Down with Katie Couric,’ ” she said of a fake interview that never happened. “And it’s me with my kids and a picture with Katie, and it looks like we’re in a living room, which was not my living room. And it had all these pictures. And the only reason that anyone may guess that it’s not me — one of my girlfriends noticed it — is because Clara, the glasses weren’t quite right. It just did not happen.”

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“But it’s so frustrating because I then thought, I wanted so badly to comment, ‘Hey guys, this isn’t me,’ ” she continued. “But I’ve been told you’re not supposed to give it air.”

Sheinelle Jones and her kids, Kayin, Clara and Uche, on April 27, 2023Credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

Jones’ co-host, Jenna Bush Hager, was very upset by the story, blasting whoever created the fake image and headline.

“I’m sorry, but whoever created that just in the same vein as creating this picture of Raye, whoever created that when somebody is in pain, when somebody is going through a hard time, to make something up when somebody is hurt,” Hager, 44, said, adding, “And you’re creating fake things and I’m so tired of it.”

Jones agreed, saying, “It’s horrible. I don’t know, I think the toothpaste is out of the tube.”

After Jones returned to Today and began her role as a co-host of the fourth hour, her kids surprised her on the show this past spring when she released a book. She later admitted that she’d intentionally kept her kids out of the spotlight in the wake of their father’s death.

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“The truth of the matter is, honestly, I’m a mama bear, a mama lion,” she said in April. “I’m very protective of them, so the pictures over the last year and a half that I’ve released or we show, they’re little.”

“So yesterday when they walked out, it was like, ‘Oh!’ And even for me, it was like, ‘Look at these boys. They’re turning into young men,’ ” Jones continued. “And Clara was so sweet. It was just one of the most special moments of my life.”

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”