With Couric and Vieira, Lauer could be an easygoing straight man with Curry, who threw off his rhythm and also threatened his dominance of the hard-news stories, he could often look sour.
When she started, Curry had asked Lauer out for lunch to get advice, but Lauer seemed to drag his feet scheduling it and Curry felt he didn't offer much. Off air, Curry and Lauer had no relationship and barely spoke. …Lauer wasn't trying hard enough to make it work with Curry because he simply didn't like her. These details were nestled in a bevy of evidence that Curry was bullied on the set, with executive producer Jim Bell creating a bloopers reel of Curry's mistakes, someone moving boxes of Curry's belongings into a closet and with Bell orchestrating the notorious "Project Bambi" to remove Curry.Ī New York Magazine feature on the feud backed up reporting that Lauer complained about Curry to NBC staff, and angled at positioning himself as the main anchor of the show. In 2013, Brian Stelter published a piece in The New York Times Magazine that reported that Matt Lauer openly disparaged Curry, telling a production assistant "I can't believe I am sitting next to this woman" in addition to personally signing off on Curry's surprise booting from the show. Numerous reports indicate that Lauer played some role in pushing his former co-host Ann Curry off the air, and resisted her placement as co-host from the beginning, actively campaigning to get Katie Couric to come back. In a 1998 interview with Clinton, Lauer dug into the then First Lady, opening the discussion by asking about President Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky, and bluntly asking if Hillary Clinton knew her. In "What Happened," Clinton wrote " Lauer had turned what should have been a serious discussion into a pointless ambush. Trump asserted, with his usual confidence: "I was totally against the war in Iraq."… Mr. Lauer… Drawing particular ire was the moment when Mr. Trump stormed onstage in his familiar motor-mouth style, often talking over Mr. Lauer interjected before the candidate could begin her reply… Mr. Clinton to describe her plan to defeat the Islamic State, Mr. Clinton to questions about her use of a private email server… When an Army veteran in the audience asked Mrs. Lauer devoted about a third of his time with Mrs.
In a "TODAY" interview with Sandra Bullock, Matt Lauer wouldn't drop the subject of a nude scene in 2009's "The Proposal." Lauer opened the interview with this charming tidbit "The major thing that's changed since I've seen you last: I have seen you naked… It's now my screensaver." Despite Bullock going on the defensive, Lauer persisted, saying "did I mention you have a nude scene in this movie," before the segment was over.Īfter a September 2016 presidential candidate forum, Lauer was widely criticized for what some saw as sexist behavior - talking over Hillary Clinton and pressing on her e-mail scandal while letting Donald Trump's blaring lies go unquestioned: Fellow "TODAY" anchors appeared visibly shaken and surprised by the news this morning, but now, clips and information have begun to surface from Lauer's past that some say indicate a history of mistreating and disrespecting women. Wednesday morning, NBC announced that it was firing star "TODAY" anchor Matt Lauer after accusations surfaced that he sexually assaulted an NBC employee in Sochi during the 2014 Winter Olympics, exposed himself to an employee in his office and gifted a co-worker a sex toy with a note about using it with her attached.