Matt Lauer’s History at ‘Today’: Two Decades of Highs and Lows
A few months after her departure, interviewed Ms. Curry about what unfolded during her brief time next to Mr. Lauer:
Many executives at the network never grasped how profoundly hurt and humiliated Curry remained — not just by her televised dismissal
but by all the backstage machinations that led to that fateful morning.
But no transition turned more tense and awkward — or filled more New York tabloid pages with rumors of
infighting on the show — than the promotion of Ann Curry in 2011 as co-anchor alongside Mr. Lauer.
The actor Tom Cruise joined “Today” to discuss his new movie, “War of the Worlds,” with Mr. Lauer.
But then Mr. Lauer, cutting away from the pretaped interview, said the second
part of their discussion “gets a little testy” and “the mood changes a bit.”
“Just knowing people who are on Ritalin isn’t enough,” Mr. Cruise told him, pointing a finger, before engaging in an attack on psychiatry.