Katie Couric Talks About Shamed Former Co-Host Matt Lauer - New Details
Katie Couric has opened-up on her shamed former co-host Matt Lauer.
And speaking at the TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Austin on Sunday she made some candid comments about her former Today Show co-host.
The 61-year-old said: "I hope he's trying to figure out and understand his behavior and why he did it and why it was so wrong."
However Couric did admit that she had a 'wonderful working relationship' with Lauer, 60, and was blindsided by the allegations against him.
She added: "It's shocking, honestly, and disturbing, disorienting, disheartening — all of those d-words.
"But I think, he's not the only one who behaves in this way. People all over the place … have participated in this kind of behavior, that have used their power in an exploitative and unacceptable way."
The veteran host also told the group that she escaped the harassment that so many women in media have subsequently claimed that they suffered for so long.
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She added: "I certainly dealt with sexist environments and environments that marginalized and didn't give women their due, and didn't treat women as intellectual equals, but it's hit very close to home with Matt Lauer and what happened there
"It's been an important experience for me because I never faced this kind of treatment. I was one of the lucky ones – I think I am harrassable and I'm not in one sense, and I think it is because I was in a position of power early in my career."
Lauer's stellar career unraveled just 24 hours after NBC management was confronted with a detailed allegation of sexual misconduct against him last November.
He was fired from the network and released a statement acknowledging his wrongdoings with women over the years and apologized but he also claimed some of the charges against him were not true.
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