Richard Gere Flips Savannah Guthrie the Bird During Live Interview on “Today ”as She Tells Him, 'I'm Bleeping You!'

"My hand did that, I have no control!" the actor later explained

First Cher, now Richard Gere!

A day after the legendary singer dropped the F-word during a live chat with Hoda Kotb on the Today show, Gere visited the NBC morning news program on Wednesday, Nov. 20 and kicked off his interview with Savannah Guthrie by flipping her the bird.

"You just did an obscene gesture on this family morning show!" a shocked Guthrie said to Gere, holding a stack of papers up to hide his hand. "I'm bleeping you!"

"You know, Cher was on here doing an F-bomb yesterday so I don't know what's happening!" she joked.

Related: Cher Drops F-Bomb Live on Today While Recounting Advice She Got from Lucille Ball: 'You Said You Would Bleep It!'

Related: Michael Fassbender Risks His Life for Freedom and Love Alongside Richard Gere and Jodie Turner-Smith in The Agency Trailer

So what prompted Gere to raise his middle finger? Turns out, he was just finishing a scene from his new espionage thriller, The Agency. Today had shown a clip from the Paramount+/Showtime 10-episode series to set up the Gere segment but had cut the scene off right before Gere's character made the gesture.

"You didn't show but that's what I did in the piece!" Gere explained. "That's what the clip was!"

"That's what the clip was but we cut that part out. But then you did it live!" Guthrie said.

"I could see that but it didn't make any sense without that!" he noted, later insisting the move wasn't intention. "My hand did that, I have no control!"

Based on a French series called The Bureau, The Agency is set in the London office of the CIA and follows a covert CIA agent (played by Michael Fassbender) who has to face reality after he's forced to abandon his undercover life. The series also stars Jeffrey Wright, Katherine Waterston, Jodie Turner-Smith, Dominic West, Hugh Bonneville and more.

Gere had watched The Bureau with his wife, Alejandra Silva, which made signing on to the American adaptation all that more enticing when he was approached. The show is the first time the actor has ever appeared in a TV series.

"It's very well-written... it's terrific," Gere said on Today. "I mean, they're all wonderful. and we shot it like a movie. We do it the same way. Movie directors, movie actors, the schedule is like a movie schedule. It feels the same to me."

The Agency streams Nov. 29 on Paramount+/Showtime. Today airs weekdays on NBC (beginning at 7 a.m. ET).