Katie Couric is having the same struggle so many of us are right now: reconciling the fact that men we know and love can be capable of horribly mistreating women. Since Matt Lauer was fired from Today in late November, Couric has been speaking out about her disbelief and her reckoning with how deep the entertainment industry’s culture of mistreatment really goes.
More:Katie Couric Reveals Her Feelings on the Matt Lauer Sexual Misconduct Allegations
“It’s been really crushing,” Couric told Entertainment Tonight over the weekend. “I think there’s been a lot of cognitive dissonance for me and a lot of people on the show, and clearly the behavior was unacceptable and shocking for so many of us, and yet we also all knew a side of Matt and many positive attributes. So to try to kind of make sense of it has been… almost impossible and very challenging.”
Couric chose not to comment on whether she has been in contact with Lauer since he was fired, but the fact still remained that the two were close friends for years. Still, she praised Savannah Guthrie and her new cohost, Hoda Kotb, who took over Lauer’s job, for making the transition as seamless as possible under the difficult circumstances.
“I think Savannah and Hoda and the whole Today show staff took a very upsetting and incredibly troubling situation and were able to handle it with a lot of dignity and grace, and I really applaud them all,” Couric said. “It’s been a very trying situation in all corners of the world, and all kinds of industries, and you know, people have to move forward.”
More:Bill O’Reilly Sat Down With Matt Lauer to Address Sexual Harassment Claims
Lauer has apologized since he was fired, saying there was enough truth to the allegations for him to be “embarrassed and ashamed.”
Leave a Comment