Did Matt Lauer Have Ann Curry Fired From ‘Today’?
Matt Lauer was booted from Today in 2017 after several women accused him of sexual misconduct at work. Ann Curry was fired in 2012, a year after accepting a position on the show. Curry’s abrupt departure came amid rumors of a growing feud between her and Lauer. But did Lauer play a part in Curry’s sudden exit from the morning talk show?
NBC’s Today show just celebrated its 25th anniversary at Studio 1A. Over the years, the Rockefeller Center set in New York City played host to numerous anchors, and the network paid tribute to some of its finest talent in a special video. The clip featured a slew of Today’s most famous hosts, including Katie Couric, Meredith Vieira, Bryant Gumbel, Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie, and Al Roker. But two individuals were noticeably absent from the tribute were Matt Lauer and Ann Curry.
Ann Curry dishes on Matt Lauer’s ‘Today’ scandal
Lauer spent decades on the Today show before his sexual harassment scandal rocked NBC in the fall of 2017. Lauer was accused of sexual harassment on the set of the show and ended up losing his multi-million job the wake of the scandal. Several women came forward with accusations and claimed that the network ignored their complaints because of Lauer’s status in the company.
Lauer eventually apologized for his actions and said that he regretted doing anything that caused pain in others.
NBC, meanwhile, launched a full investigation into Lauer’s disturbing behavior over the years. According to CNN, the investigators claimed that executives within the company had no knowledge about the complaints. They also revealed that Lauer had acted inappropriately inside the workplace and that NBC was justified in giving him the boot.
Several months after Lauer lost his job, Curry came out and said she was not surprised to learn about his lewd behavior. Curry and Lauer briefly worked together on the show after she was hired in 2011.
Inside Ann Curry and Matt Lauer’s feud
Curry was hired to co-host a segment on Today in the summer of 2011. It only took around six months for producers to figure out that Curry and Lauer did not have good chemistry in front of the cameras.
To make things even worse, Lauer reportedly complained about Curry to executive producer Jim Bell and other staff members on the set. It also did not help that Good Morning America was rising in popularity and was putting pressure on everyone working on the show.
By January of 2012, a report surfaced that NBC executives were looking to hire Guthrie as Curry’s replacement. Bell then allegedly initiated a plan to push Curry out. For her part, Curry later admitted that the “boys’ club” atmosphere on the set made her life miserable. This includes people making fun of her awkward moments on the show and fashion decisions. With the show hurting in the ratings department, it seemed like only a matter of time before NBC gave Curry the boot.
Matt Lauer signs a massive deal
When Lauer’s contract was up in 2012, NBC allegedly told him that they were planning on getting rid of Curry even if he left the show. Despite a tempting offer from a rival network, Lauer decided to renegotiate the terms of his contract and signed the largest deal in the history of television worth $25 million a year. Once Lauer signed the contract, Curry’s future on Today was pretty much over.
A few weeks after Lauer signed his historic deal, Good Morning America climbed ahead of Today in the ratings, breaking the show’s 16-year streak at the top of the charts. That same month, Bell tried to keep Curry on board by moving her to another role within the network.
Two months later, Curry formally announced her departure and fans suspected that Lauer played a part in her demise. While Lauer was not the driving force behind Curry’s exit, he certainly played a role in what happened.
Things, of course, did not end so well for Lauer. Not only did he lose a lucrative career, but Matt Lauer’s marriage also fell apart amid the sexual assault scandal.
