Story at a glance:
- Katie Couric expresses sympathy for and defends Matt Lauer in her new book.
- Lauer was fired from NBC after credible accusations of sexual misconduct.
- Couric wrote Lauer was a “decent man” and she “couldn’t imagine” what he was going through.
Veteran news anchor Katie Couric is expressing sympathy for former NBC anchor Matt Lauer, who used his senior position to take advantage of and sexually harass women he worked with.
Lauer, the disgraced news host who once dominated morning coverage on NBC, still has a righteous place in Couric’s heart as she refers to him as a “decent” man, the New York Post reported.
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In her new book slated to be out next month –the manuscript exclusively obtained by The Daily Mail – Couric, 64, recalls how her “heart sank” and she texted him, “I am crushed,” after Lauer was fired from NBC in 2017.
Lauer was fired due to a credible accusation of sexual misconduct. Since his firing, several more women came forward to allege Lauer also sexually assaulted them in incidents dating back to 2001.
Among the accusations, Lauer allegedly exposed himself to a woman in his office, sent another woman a sex toy and explicit note, and installed a button under his desk to lock his office door, the New York Post reports.
The accusations around Lauer’s sexual misconduct never affected how Couric felt about her former co-anchor.
“I love you and care about you deeply. I am here. Please let me know if you want to talk. There will be better days ahead,” Couric said to Lauer as she recalls in her book.
In her book, Couric said Lauer, responded to the text messages with a blowing kiss emoji, the Post reported.
Couric wrote how she “couldn’t imagine” what Lauer must’ve been going through, and said it was “excruciatingly painful” for her when he was fired. She also expressed how she felt “heartless to abandon him.”
Lauer joined NBC in 1992, serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, according to NBC News. In 1997, he was promoted to the host’s chair, serving as the co-host of NBC’s “Today.”
Couric worked for NBC News in its Rockefeller headquarters from 1989 to 2006.
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