Ann Curry: ‘Today’ Show Drama With Matt Lauer Just Won’t End

Ann Curry has been gone from the Today show for more than a year, but the controversy surrounding her departure refuses to die down.

In a recent interview with Esquire, her former co-host Matt Lauer talked about the media firestorm that ensued from Curry’s departure from the show in 2012. He blamed the media for over-inflating the scandal, calling it a “disappointing learning experience.”

Just before Ann Curry was dropped from Today, Matt Lauer re-signed with the show for a reported salary of $25 million a year. Much of the blame for Ann’s departure fell on Matt, with rumors that he feuded with her behind the scenes and pulled the strings on her ouster.

“I was disappointed by the laziness of the media, the willingness to read a rumor, repeat that rumor, and treat it as a fact,” Lauer said of the Ann Curry drama. “And yet, what were my options? Does anyone want to see a person who’s making the money that the newspapers say I’m making complaining, ‘Woe is me, my life is terrible, and people are being unfair’? No one would’ve had any patience for that. I wouldn’t have any patience for that. So you just shut up and go about doing your job and hope that people who know you well — your friends and your family — know what’s true.”

While the fallout from her firing continues, Ann Curry has marched on with her career. She recently signed a multi-year contract with the network as NBC News National and International correspondent. She remains a Today anchor at large and contributor.

Unfortunately for Ann Curry, the Today show firing fallout has overshadowed some excellent journalistic work. In August, just a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry announced that Syria used chemical weapons on its own people, Curry reported from a Syrian refuge camp. More than two million people have been displaced during the country’s civil war.