The moment Kennedy suddenly grabbed Bill Hemmer’s finger live on Fox News left the studio frozen in awkward silence — but what angered viewers even more was why it happened. Instead of covering Veterans Day, the hosts spent time reenacting a viral Ariana Grande moment, prompting frustrated viewers to ask: ‘With everything going on, this is what they choose to talk about?’

Fox News anchors discussed viral moments from the Wicked press tour (Image: FOX)

Fox News deviated from its Veterans Day coverage during America’s Newsroom to discuss a viral “memeworthy moment” from the Wicked: For Good premiere in Paris earlier this week.

Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino were joined by Kennedy and Rich Zeoli for the segment, which led to an uncomfortable moment between the anchors as Kennedy reenacted the famous finger-clutching “holding space” moment between Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo during the press tour for the Musical.

The panel was talking about Ariana and Cynthia’s latest viral moment during the November 7 premiere of the film in Paris, when a reporter asked them what color each other’s “aura” is.

A clip of the sweet moment was played, during which Ariana said she saw yellow and purple for Cynthia, and in return, Cynthia noted she saw sky blue and sunset orange for Ariana’s aura as they both gushed over the reporter’s out-of-the-box question.

“And that’s 47 seconds of your life that you will never get back,” Bill joked, to which Rich added, “What did we do to you guys to punish us like that?” before admitting that he already has tickets to see the movie twice.

Kennedy clutched Bill’s finger during the segment (Image: FOX)

Rich went on to say, “I think the only aura I see with those two is green because this movie is going to make a billion dollars again,” before noting, “I’m just really glad this press tour is not getting overly political.”

The radio host said, “As painful as that was—and that was very painful—but at least it’s not getting overly political. I think the studios are now saying to their stars after the Snow White fiasco, ‘Hey, dial it back, otherwise you’re going to cost the studio millions of dollars with your nonsense.’”

Then, in a bizarre moment, Kennedy reached over and grabbed onto a visibly uncomfortable Bill’s finger. “I’m holding space for your aura,” she said, referencing the Wicked stars’ viral press tour moments.

She continued to hold the anchor’s finger while continuing to mock the Wicked stars. “How do you decide for whom you hold space with the color of their aura? Because you gotta double down, you can’t just say it’s yellow. You also have to say it’s purple, it’s blue, with a little bit of orange in there, because you don’t want to offend someone,” Kennedy said.

The awkward moment was captured live on the air (Image: FOX)

After the painfully long moment, she leaned in and said mockingly, “Thank you for holding space.” Bill replied, “You got it, sister,” as he broke away from her grip.

Bill segued to the next story, which was about the benefits of showering in the dark, announcing, “Shall we move to the bathroom?” Rich then quipped, “Can’t be less awkward than that was,” referencing the unscripted and unpleasant exchange between Kennedy and Bill.

One viewer who watched the strange segment posted on X, formerly Twitter, “[Fox News] is wasting time in a segment about “Wicked”, a twisted musical production. Really? With all the s–t going on in America and worldwide, that is worth your time? I have switched over to weather radar. I seem to do that a lot lately.”