The Full Humiliation Of Ann Curry Revealed

Should a sitcom adaptation of Horrible Bosses ever be made, it would be fitting it should air on NBC.

At least, that's what we're gathering after the New York Times published an incisive new article by author Brian Stelter, detailing the series of shots, snubs and slights NBC brass fired at the award winning Ann Curry following her awkward exit from the TODAY show last summer.

Among the tidbits:

* When Curry -- a Peacock Network employee of 22 years -- forgot to bring her NBC badge to work at the network's 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters this past March (after her demotion), the security guard on duty made like he didn't recognize her, asking her for her name. She replied: “Ann Curry … A-N-N … C-U-R-R-Y.”

* Curry was often the butt of sophomoric jokes -- dare we say, bullying? -- at the hands of TODAY show executive producer Jim Bell, who Stelter reported was a central contributor to "a general meanness on set" toward the veteran journalist.

“A lot of time in the control room was spent making fun of Ann’s outfit choices or just generally messing with her,” a staffer told the paper, adding that when Curry wore a bright yellow outfit on the program one day, a prankster photoshopped her next to Big Bird with the caption, “Who wore it best?”

Bell, show insiders told the paper, composed a blooper reel of Curry’s on-air mistakes, and had a staff-wide meeting on a different occasion to mock a Curry flub during a cross-talk segment with a local station. The producer denied any such occurrences. (Insiders told the paper Bell's plan to out Curry was dubbed "Operation Bambi," after a colleague suggested getting rid of the likable broadcaster would be asking to killing Bambi.)

Toward the end, Bell wined and dined Curry at swanky New York restaurant La Grenouille trying to spin her demotion from co-host to roving-correspondent as a promotion in a feeble effort to play off her preference of reporting hard news to tabloid fare.

* In other acts of passive aggression, Curry's belongings were unceremoniously tossed into boxes and confined to a coat closet; her office was moved to the 27th floor, far from the exec's offices on the third floor; and in one instance, a red Post-it note was placed on her office door that read, “Do Not Enter.”

* In yet another indignity, NBC bosses, shortly after Curry's demotion, tried to put her alongside replacement Savannah Guthrie during coverage of the Aurora theater shooting in July, trying to convey with message that the staff was one big happy family. Curry was not informed of the planned pairing and, naturally, rejected the idea. In turn, she broadcast a total of four minutes from the site of the incident, and a TODAY staffer was told to book the journalists on separate flights back to the Big Apple.

As we previously reported, Curry finished her TODAY tenure last June with just more than a year in the lead anchor role, as she was demoted to the correspondent position, where she's received minuscule on-air time.

On her last broadcast in that capacity, she emotionally told viewers she was sorry she "couldn't carry the ball to the finish line" despite her efforts.

Her ouster came after the NBC morning juggernaut lost a 16-year lead over its chief rival, ABC's Good Morning America; since her demotion, GMA has continued to command a lead over its' NBC rival, and Matt Lauer's image has taken a shellacking as a result.

Stelter's book detailing the drama, Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV, is expected to be released next week; check back for more updates on this story, right here on RadarOnline.com.