The excellent media writer of the New York Times, Brian Stelter, has a book coming out next week about the behind-the-scenes drama at the Today Show. The Times teased it this morning.
If this excerpt is any indication, it should be a juicy book...
Many executives at the network never grasped how profoundly hurt and humiliated Curry remained — not just by her televised dismissal but by all the backstage machinations that led to that fateful morning. Curry felt that the boys’ club atmosphere behind the scenes at “Today” undermined her from the start, and she told friends that her final months were a form of professional torture. The growing indifference of Matt Lauer, her co-host, had hurt the most, but there was also just a general meanness on set.
At one point, the executive producer, Jim Bell, commissioned a blooper reel of Curry’s worst on-air mistakes. Another time, according to a producer, Bell called staff members into his office to show a gaffe she made during a cross-talk with a local station. (Bell denies both incidents.) Then several boxes of Curry’s belongings ended up in a coat closet, as if she had already been booted off the premises. One staff person recalled that “a lot of time in the control room was spent making fun of Ann’s outfit choices or just generally messing with her.” On one memorable spring morning, Curry wore a bright yellow dress that spawned snarky comparisons to Big Bird. The staff person said that others in the control room, which included 14 men and 3 women, according to my head count one morning, Photoshopped a picture of Big Bird next to Curry and asked co-workers to vote on “Who wore it best?”
Wow. They've been trying to spin this story for months claiming that it was some sort of mutual decision or promotion for Curry to leave, but the viewers sensed they were full of it. If this reporting is correct (and Stelter is a great reporter), every bad thought the viewers had about the remaining Today show bunch is correct. Matt Lauer can't be happy about this.
