Kathie Lee Gifford And Hoda Kotb Allegedly ‘Relieved’ Matt Lauer Was Fired From ‘Today’
Matt Lauer’s former Today co-anchors Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb were allegedly “relieved” and even “thrilled” to hear that Lauer had been fired from the show last week following allegations of sexual misconduct. According to reports, despite seeming on friendly terms before the news of Matt’s alleged inappropriate behavior broke on November 29, the twosome are said to have not actually been too sad to see him go after 20 years on the morning show.
Sources who spoke out a week after Kotb and Savannah Guthrie announced that Lauer had been fired by NBC News claimed that, although Hoda and Kathie Lee appeared very friendly with Matt on camera, the two allegedly didn’t always along with Matt too well behind the scenes and actually felt he was often quite “rude” on the set.
“Kathie Lee and Hoda are both incredibly relieved that Matt is no longer a part of the team,” a source alleged to Radar Online of how the duo, who co-host the fourth hour of Today together, feel about Matt being fired.
Allegedly, Matt was “really quite bossy and rude” to some of his co-workers and “created this sort of tension in every single room he entered and that tension no longer exists.” The outlet’s NBC insider also added that now Lauer’s gone and is no longer present on set that it’s “like everyone can finally breathe a breath of fresh air.”
Hoda and Kathie Lee haven’t publicly spoken out regarding Radar Online’s report claiming they were actually pretty happy to see Lauer let go from the morning show, though both did speak out about Matt when announcing his firing last week.
Despite the recent allegations suggesting that were “relieved” to see him go, neither anchor appeared to show any signs of bad blood with her former co-worker while discussing the news on air, even after the recent allegations.
Hoda and Kathie Lee both spoke about the news on their segment of Today on November 29, where they both looked incredibly sullen as they discussed Matt’s shocking firing and inappropriate behavior in the workplace.
WATCH: “The processing is going to take a lot of time…” @hodakotb and @KathieLGifford on Matt Lauer’s termination from NBC News. pic.twitter.com/Qy1lnu1mYH
— TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) November 29, 2017
“You’ve loved someone so much and then you hear something and you go, ‘Wait, what’?” Hoda said of Matt. “It does take time and you can’t figure it out overnight.”
Sighing and struggling for words, Kathie Lee then added that she was “grappling” with the allegations and added that she even sent a text to Lauer that morning after hearing the news of his termination, revealing that she wants to forgive him.
“I texted Matt this morning and I said, ‘I adore you,'” Gifford revealed of the contact she’d had with her former co-worker.
Hoda, who still has photos with Lauer on her social media pages, also told TMZ cameras while making her way out of NBC’s offices in New York City last week that she still loved Matt, despite the allegations of sexual misconduct made against him.
When asked by awaiting paparazzi shortly after coming off air following the bombshell announcement, Kotb was asked if she’d spoken to Lauer and simply replied, “I love him.”
For his part, it was claimed earlier this week that Matt’s been left feeling “mortified” by the whole situation and is worried that neither his career nor his marriage will survive the scandal.
