Ann Curry Says She Wasn't Surprised by the Matt Lauer Allegations
Former Today show host Ann Curry appeared on CBS This Morning Wednesday to promote her new PBS series, We'll Meet Again. But the conversation quickly turned to her old network, and especially to Matt Lauer, who was fired from NBC after a report of "inappropriate sexual behavior." Lauer ended up issuing an apology, expressing "sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused."
Initially, Curry spoke in general terms, saying the movement against sexual harassment and abuse is "overdue," and how our culture needs to speak out against abuses of power, But then she was asked point-blank if she thought Lauer abused his power at NBC. "I'm trying to do no harm in these conversations," she responded, but ultimately answered, "I can tell you that I am not surprised by the allegations."
She demurred when asked to elaborate, at least at first. "See, now I'm walking down that road and I'm trying not to hurt people," she told the anchors. "I know what it's like to be publicly humiliated, I never did anything wrong to be publicly humiliated, and I don't want to cause that kind of pain to somebody else."
But ultimately she discussed what she was as the larger culture at NBC, and told the anchors that she felt "verbal sexual harassment" was pervasive there. "I would be surprised if many women did not understand that there was a climate of verbal harassment that existed," she told CBS This Morning. "I think it would be surprising if someone said they didn't see that." Elle.com has reached out to NBC News for comment, and will update this story with their response.
She said to this day she doesn't know exactly why she was fired from the Today show. "It hurt like hell, it wasn't a fun moment," she told CBS. "I think it's been years and I want to move on from that. At this point I'm thinking, 'hakuna matata.' It's over."
Curry tweeted #MeToo in October, and she said that she has been the victim of sexual harassment at multiple workplaces. "I don't know a single woman who has not endured some form of sexual harassment, and many women have endured workplace sexual harassment," she said on the broadcast. "It has happened to me in multiple jobs and it is a way of sidelining women."
Overall, she told the anchors she was happy to see two women hosting the Today show these days. "I think that's also overdue," she said. "As you well know, many of the viewers of the morning broadcast are women, and the idea that women are speaking to women is an overdue idea."
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