Savannah Guthrie Talks About What It Was Really Like Finding out Matt Lauer Had Been Fired

When it was announced that Today show’s longtime anchor, Matt Lauer, had been fired for sexual misconduct, it seemed unlikely that people didn’t see it coming. Still, no one was caught more off-guard than his his co-anchor, Savannah Guthrie, who broke the news on Nov. 29, 2017, and after reading a statement from NBC News chairman, Andi Lack, she said, “This is a sad morning at NBC News… We just learned this moments ago. Just this morning. As I’m sure you can imagine, we are devastated and we are still processing all of this.”

Since then, Savannah has continued to open up about this experience. During an interview with USA TODAY about NBC’s coverage of the Olympic Games — an event Matt always covered — she said, “We had a really great and close relationship with Matt. He was our friend and colleague.”

The 45-year-old morning show host was very close to Matt during the five years that they worked together. A source told Entertainment Tonight she was “affected the most” by the news.

Savannah continued, “We woke up to news that was shocking, just like everyone who turned on the show every day. Man, it’s hard to get through something like that. We all try to keep our eye on the ball and try to manage this the best we can.” Savannah became Matt’s co-host on July 9, 2012 — taking over for Ann Curry. They hosted several events together including the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting Ceremony.

Since Matt was fired at NBC, Hoda Kotb joined Savannah as the new co-host — making TODAY show history as the first female duo on the morning program. Savannah said of her new partner that “something really lovely and positive has happened.”

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