Almost six years after she was booted from NBC’s “Today” show, journalist Ann Curry is speaking out about Matt Lauer’s sexual assault allegations. The former staple of the peacock network has a new PBS series on the way, but the focus of Curry’s morning show sitdown was on the #MeToo movement and Lauer’s ousting from NBC News.
“I think it’s, in general, overdue,” she says on “CBS This Morning” Wednesday, Jan. 17. “We clearly are waking up to a reality, an injustice that has been occurring for some time. And I think it will continue to occur until the glass ceiling is finally broken. This is about power and power imbalance where women are not valued as much as men.”
Then, the moment came where Curry, who had worked on the “Today” show for 18 years, had to address Lauer’s November firing from the show and NBC over allegations of sexual misconduct.
“I can tell you that I am not surprised by the allegations,” she says. “That means that in —see, now I’m walking down that road and I’m trying not to hurt people and I know what it’s like to be publicly humiliated. … But I can say that I would be surprised if many women did not understand that there was a climate of verbal harassment that existed [at NBC]. … It was verbal sexual harassment.”
Curry was also asked about the bombshell moment that resulted in her tearfully leaving the “Today” show with Lauer by her side, as CBS co-anchor Gayle King mentioned many had believed Lauer was to blame for her departure.
“I’m not the one to ask about that,” Curry says.
Then, buckling down after King responds, “You’re the only one to ask about that,” Curry says, “No, because I don’t know what all was behind it.”
“I do know that it hurt like hell,” she continues. “It wasn’t a fun moment. I’ve learned a great deal about myself. I really, at this point, let it go. … It’s been years and I want to sort of move on from that.”
Curry’s new PBS documentary program, “We’ll Meet Again,” premieres Tuesday, Jan. 23.
