Why Ann Curry Didn't "Celebrate" Matt Lauer's Downfall

"I didn't get to enjoy it," she tells Stephen Colbert on The Late Show

By Zach Johnson Jan 23, 2018 4:40 PMTags

Ann Curry ostensibly appeared on CBS' The Late Show to promote her six-part PBS docu-series, We'll Meet Again—but, to no one's surprise, Stephen Colbert was more interested in discussing her tenure at NBC's Today and her former co-anchor Matt Lauer, who was fired from NBC News in November amid allegations of sexual misconduct. (Lauer quickly apologized for his behavior, although he also maintained that "some" of the allegations were "untrue or mischaracterized.")

Colbert claimed brought up reports that Lauer "forced" Curry off Today in 2012, which she declined to confirm or deny. "Mmm," she said. While she signed a nondisclosure agreement, "I can talk. I am bold," she said. "Yes, I can talk." Curry didn't share any more, saying, "I don't want to cause any pain, you guys! I don't want to cause pain." Soon after Lauer was fired, journalist Ira Madison III tweeted, "Somewhere Ann Curry just made her orange juice a mimosa." It was one of many tweets joking about the fraught dynamic between Curry and Lauer. But did Curry actually celebrate his downfall? "I wish. The truth is that I was raised Catholic by a Buddhist. So think about the Catholic guilt, which you know something about, mixed with the karma, the worries—the intensity of that! Think Game of Thrones—the wall, it went up!" Curry said. "It was a whole wall of, 'Uh-uh. You can't talk like that. You can't think like that.' I didn't get to enjoy it."

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Inside Ann Curry and Matt Lauer's Complicated History
Scott Kowalchyk/CBS

"Isn't this his karma?" Colbert asked.

"That's a good point," Curry admitted. "But I think that...a lot of people have suffered, so I haven't had a chance to 'celebrate,' for a lot of reasons, in part because I'm sort of limited."

Colbert smiled and told his guest, "You're a very nice person."

Regarding sexual misconduct, Curry said, "I think we are a long way from fixing the problem."

(E! and NBC are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)