The Niagara Falls Review

‘Not the Matt we knew’

Katie Couric breaks silence on Matt Lauer: ‘I had no idea’

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Katie Couric, who was Matt Lauer’s Today co-host for several years, broke her silence Saturday on sexual misconduct allegation­s against him.

Couric told People magazine: “I had no idea this was going on during my tenure or after I left.”

She departed NBC in 2006 to anchor the CBS Evening News and has been criticized for her silence in the more than a month since Lauer was fired. NBC News conducted an investigat­ion of a Lauer colleague’s detailed complaint of “inappropri­ate sexual behaviour.” Other women have come forward with accusation­s against him.

“I think I speak for many of my former colleagues when I say this was not the Matt we knew,” Couric told People. “Matt was a kind and generous colleague who treated me with respect. In fact, a joke I once made on late-night television was just that, because it was completely contrary to our brothersis­ter relationsh­ip. It’s still very upsetting. I really admire the way Savannah (Guthrie) and Hoda (Kotb) and the entire Today show staff have handled a very difficult situation.”

Couric was referring to a remark she made in 2012 on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen that Lauer “pinches me on the ass a lot.” The clip received wide attention online after Lauer’s firing in late November.

Couric’s only other public statement on Lauer was one she made on Instagram last month in response to a user who chided her for not speaking out: “It’s incredibly upsetting and I will say something when I’m ready to. Thanks for your interest.”

Lauer has since apologized in a statement.

Couric is working on a sixpart documentar­y series for the National Geographic channel called Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric and said one episode will focus on harassment women have faced in the workplace.

“The whole thing has been very painful for me,” Couric told People of Lauer’s behaviour. “The accounts I’ve read and heard have been disturbing, distressin­g and disorienti­ng and it’s completely unacceptab­le that any woman at the Today’ show experience­d this kind of treatment.” The Associated Press

 ?? RICHARD DREW/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES ?? In this May 31, 2006 file photo, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer, co-hosts of the NBC Today program, open her farewell broadcast in New York. Couric told People in a story published Saturday, “I had no idea this was going on during my tenure or after I...
RICHARD DREW/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES In this May 31, 2006 file photo, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer, co-hosts of the NBC Today program, open her farewell broadcast in New York. Couric told People in a story published Saturday, “I had no idea this was going on during my tenure or after I...

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