Did The ‘Today’ Show Fire Natalie Morales And Willie Geist?
The Today show has reportedly fired co-hosts Natalie Morales and Willie Geist.
Us Weekly reported on Wednesday that an insider from NBC revealed to them that both co-hosts “were recently told they were fired.”
The report further claims that 42-year-old Natalie Morales is in talks with ABC and 39-year-old Willie Geist was able to land a gig at CBS.
According to US Weekly, the firing of Natalie Morales and Willie Geist is just one of the things that NBC has done in order to shake up the morning show and become more competitive against their rival, Good Morning America.
One of the biggest changes made was NBC’s removal of Jamie Horowitz as general manager. The magazine claims to have obtained a memo from Deborah Turness with NBC News which explained that Jamie was “not the right fit” for the position.
The inside source at NBC also told the magazine that co-host Tamron Hall could possibly be demoted back to MSNBC while Josh Elliott, formerly with Good Morning America, will be brought on-board as a newsreader. It has also been reported that Hoda Kotb could also be asked to switch from the 10 A.M. hour which she shares with Kathie Lee Gifford to the 9 A.M. hour instead.
However, Us Weekly did also state that a separate source claims none of these reported changes may ever actually occur. That source was able to share some behind-the-scenes insight on the origin of those ideas.
“An executive went rogue and got fired for suggesting crazy ideas no one agreed with.”
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, there have been a lot of rumors and speculation circulating about drama occurring behind the scenes of the popular morning show such as reports of Natalie Morales wanting to leave.
However, an official representative for the Today show also came forward and denied the news of any shake-up at NBC, especially when it came to the anchor team.
“We have a strong anchor team we want here for a long time.”
In reference to the rumors of Natalie Morales wanting to leave the Today show, executive producer Don Nash reportedly squashed those rumors with a statement of his own.
“This is total nonsense. As the Today show continues to gain momentum, it sounds like someone is trying to stir up trouble that doesn’t exist. Natalie Morales is valued by everyone at the news division from the top down, and her future is with the Today show and NBC News.”
Willie Geist started on the Today show back in 2010 as a substitute for Matt Lauer as well as the newsreader for the show. His new position as the co-anchor for the third hour of the Today show was announced in October of 2012.
Natalie Morales was promoted from National Correspondent of the Today show to co-anchor in March of 2008. A little more than three years later, it was announced that she would be replacing Ann Curry as news anchor.
[Image Credit: NBC News]
