It’s been two months since Matt Lauer was fired from Today following a sexual harassment claim. And while the Internet assumed his former co-anchor Ann Curry would be delighted by the news, the mother-of-two revealed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that she didn’t celebrate at all.
On Monday, Jan. 22, the 61-year-old got real about her reaction to Matt’s departure. “The truth is that I was raised Catholic by a Buddhist. So I think about the Catholic guilt, mixed with the karma, worries, the intensity of that,” she explained. “It was like all of the sudden my brain — think Game of Thrones — the wall, it went up. There was this whole wall of, ‘Uh-oh, you can’t talk like that. You can’t think like that.’ So I didn’t actually get to enjoy it.”
Stephen then asked if she thought the firing was karma for Matt’s bad behavior. “Well, that’s a good point, but … also you have to think about the pain,” she said. “You know, a lot of people have suffered. So I haven’t had a chance to celebrate for a lot of reasons.”
Of course, Ann’s reportedly tumultuous relationship with Matt has been long-standing. After she departed Today in 2012, it was revealed that “her lack of chemistry” with the head honcho was the reason for her exit. After his firing, the hashtag #SomewhereAnnCurry started going viral. “Somewhere Ann Curry is having a nice bowl of Frosted Karma Flakes,” one user wrote. Another added, “Somewhere Ann Curry is holding a well-deserved glass of champagne. Beautiful karma.”
Though she’s not rejoicing over his termination, the 61-year-old admitted the news didn’t come as a shock. On CBS This Morning in mid-January, Ann offered up her side of things. “I can tell you that I am not surprised by the allegations,” she said. When asked whether she felt Matt abused his power, the brunette beauty didn’t say much. “Now I’m walking down that road and I’m trying not to hurt people,” she said, explaining that she wanted to respect the victims. “And I know what it’s like to be publicly humiliated. But I can say that — because you are asking me a very direct question — I can say that I would be surprised if many women did not understand that there was a climate of verbal harassment that existed. I would be surprised if someone said that they didn’t see that. So, it was verbal sexual harassment.”
She also opened up to People about her attitude towards the scandal. “I wish I could say that I was celebrating,” she confessed. “But actually I immediately checked myself. Because I knew women had suffered. I’m not a vengeful person. I know what it’s like to be humiliated. I just don’t want to play a part in anyone else’s humiliation.”
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