Former Today co-host Ann Curry told CBS This Morning today that she was not surprised by the allegations of sexual harassment behind the downfall and November ouster of her former on-air colleague Matt Lauer.
See video of the interview below.
Declining to go into specifics despite repeated prompting from Gayle King, Norah O’Donnell and John Dickerson, Curry said she is “trying not to hurt people. I know what its like to be publicly humiliated…and I don’t want to cause that kind of pain to somebody else. But because you’re asking me a very direct question: I would be surprised if many women did not understand that there was a climate of verbal harassment (at NBC’s Today) that existed. I’d think it would be surprising if someone said they didn’t see that.”
Among the things Curry didn’t specify was whom, exactly, she was “trying not to hurt” – Lauer or the women he allegedly harassed.
King raised the topic of the public perception that Curry’s tearful departure from Today had been in some way orchestrated by Lauer. She asked Curry whether Lauer “derailed” her career.
“Was Matt Lauer behind your leaving the Today show?” asked King, then mentioned Curry’s emotional Today farewell.
“You should ask someone else,” said Curry. “I’m not the one to ask about that.”
“You’re the only one to ask,” said King.
“No no, because I don’t know what was all behind it,” Curry said. “I do know it hurt like hell, it wasn’t a fun moment, I learned a great deal about myself. I’ve really at this point let it go. I’ve just let it go. It’s been years and I want to really move on from that. At this point I’m thinking hakuna matata.”
Curry then widened the discussion. “The real question in my view is what are we going to do with all this anger,” she said, noting that the problem of sexual harassment is “pervasive” across industries and the country.
As for the current on-air leadership of Today – Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb are the co-anchors – Curry said the female team is “overdue.”
Curry, who left Today in 2015, is re-emerging with a new PBS series We’ll Meet Again. A second part of her CBS This Morning interview, set for the 8:30 am ET hour, was set to focus on her new show.