Curry says she wasn’t surprised by Lauer allegations
NEW YORK » Former “Today” show anchor Ann Curry says she’s not surprised by the allegations that got former colleague Matt Lauer fired and that there was an atmosphere of verbal sexual harassment at the NBC show when she worked there.
Curry lost her job after less than two years as Lauer’s co-anchor in 2012 and left NBC in 2015. She told “CBS This Morning” in an interview Wednesday that it “hurt like hell.”
She offered no specific examples of wrongdoing, saying she didn’t want to cause more pain. Lauer was fired in November for an inappropriate relationship with a colleague that began in 2014.
Meanwhile, “Today” announced that Libby Leist is replacing Don Nash as executive producer for the first two hours of “Today.”
That means that the three executives running the show are all women. The announcement comes two weeks after NBC appointed Hoda Kotb as Lauer’s replacement , working alongside Savannah Guthrie — meaning the show has two women in its lead on-air roles for the first time in its history.
Curry has been quiet since leaving “Today” but she gave Wednesday’s interview to promote an upcoming show on PBS.
“I would be surprised if many women did not understand that there was a climate of verbal harassment that existed,” Curry said, later amending that to add the word “sexual.”
She said the world is “waking up to a reality, an injustice that has been occurring for some time.
“I think it will continue until the glass ceiling is finally broken,” she said. “This is about power, a power imbalance where women are not valued as much as men.”
Curry’s tearful farewell proved disastrous for “Today,” leading it to lose its long-held position in first place in morning ratings. Many viewers blamed Lauer; when asked if she believed he was behind her firing, Curry said that “I’m not the one to ask.”
“You’re the only one to ask,” said CBS’ Gayle King.
Curry said that at this point she had just let it go.