The Shady Side Of The Today Show

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The following article includes allegations of sexual assault.

Few television shows have experienced the longevity of NBC's "Today." Making its debut in 1952, "Today" blazed trails in broadcasting as TV's first morning show, setting the template for the numerous imitators that followed. Since then, the show has continued to evolve, delivering a mix of news, weather, and celebrity interviews that's proven to be a winning formula with viewers.

Of course, "Today" has not been without its controversies over the years. Early on, the show pulled off one of the strangest stunts in TV history by bringing in a chimpanzee named J. Fred Muggs to co-anchor with Dave Garroway. Behind the scenes, the chimp proved violent and problematic, once biting actor Martha Raye when she appeared on the show. While it's a given that PETA would today decry using an animal that way, viewers were delighted by his antics. During the primate's time on the show, Muggs boosted ratings and was even sent on a tour around the globe to promote "Today."

Since then, "Today" has experienced some far darker scandals, ranging from the firing of a once-beloved anchor due to some shocking allegations of sexual misconduct, to the backlash that ensued when a veteran female anchor was seemingly shoved aside to make way for a younger woman. To find out more about the show's history of controversy, read on to experience the shady side of the "Today" show.

In 2012, Ann Curry had been a part of "Today" for about a year when she announced she was leaving to take another job at NBC News. "I have called the co-host job at the 'Today' show my dream job, and I would be lying if I said it was easy to leave that job," she told USA Today (via the Daily News).

The circumstances surrounding Curry's exit were murky until the publication of "Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV" by New York Times reporter Brian Stelter. According to Stelter, Curry's ouster was engineered by co-host Matt Lauer, who reportedly had knives out for Curry since she arrived. "It wasn't obvious at the time, but Ann Curry was a dead woman walking," Stelter told ET. "She was never really given a chance to co-host the show. She was being undermined the whole time." According to Stelter, a plan was hatched — dubbed "Operation Bambi" — to ditch Curry and replace her with Savannah Guthrie.

While Curry has admitted she can't be completely sure about the accuracy of Stelter's report, she has her suspicions. "They say where there's smoke, there's fire. You can read the tea leaves. But you know, I'm a fact-based reporter, so it's hard for me to go out there, with something so close to the vest. I don't know," she told Elle in 2020. Curry eventually left NBC News entirely in 2015, but admitted that she still hadn't gotten over her "Today" exit. "It honestly hurts really deeply," she said, "because I really think I did nothing wrong."

Following her brief tenure at "Today," Ann Curry revealed how she really felt about Matt Lauer, divulging that she told management about disturbing claims about Matt Lauer that female staffers shared with her. However, the you-know-what didn't really hit the fan for Lauer until November 2017, when former NBC staffer Brooke Nevils accused Matt Lauer of sexual assaulting her while they covered the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. "It was nonconsensual in that I said, multiple times, that I didn't want to have anal sex," Nevils claimed (via Variety). Lauer accused Nevils of lying, insisting her allegation was "categorically false," and describing what happened as an "extramarital, but consensual, sexual encounter."

Lauer's claims of innocence were not helped when several more women came forward to make similar accusations. Meanwhile, reports emerged indicating that Lauer's behavior had been an open secret with "Today" staffers, and NBC News management had been complicit. "They protected the s*** out of Matt Lauer," an anonymous former reporter told Variety.

Finally, NBC News chairman Andy Lack fired Lauer, announcing the decision in a memo (obtained by Vanity Fair). "While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over 20 years he's been at NBC News," wrote Lack, "we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident." After his departure, Lauer's statement expressed contrition over the allegations. "There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions," he wrote, adding, "I realize the depth of the damage and disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC."

Katie Couric has had many unforgettable moments in the newsroom, and during her 15-year stint as anchor of "Today," she spent her first five alongside co-anchor Bryant Gumbel. While the two bantered for the cameras, their off-camera relationship wasn't always so positive. As Couric explained during an appearance on the "Club Random with Bill Maher" podcast, she received pushback from Gumbel when she went on maternity leave after welcoming her first baby.

"He got mad at me," she said. "And he was giving me endless s*** for taking like a month or two off. I was having my first baby." In fact, she even recalled her co-anchor telling her, "'Why don't you just drop it in the field and come back to work right away or something?'" According to Couric, she was aware that Gumbel "was goofing on me," yet still found his remarks to be "emblematic of sort of an incredibly sexist attitude."

After Gumbel's exit, Couric was partnered with Matt Lauer. In a 2021 return to "Today," Couric admitted that she was never a firsthand witness to Lauer's sketchy double life, but decided to do her own reporting. What she discovered left her unsettled. "As I got more information and learned what was going on behind the scenes, it was really upsetting and disturbing," she expressed. "And it was really devastating, but also disgusting."

While the downfall of Matt Lauer remains disturbing, another allegation of sexual misconduct surfaced. This time, the accused was former "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw, who hosted of "Today" from 1976 until 1982.

The accusation was made by former NBC News war correspondent Linda Vester, who claimed that Brokaw made several unwanted sexual advances to her, including twice attempting to force himself on with an unwanted kiss. She also claimed that he groped her and once showed up uninvited to her hotel room. As she told Variety, there was a reason she hadn't spoken up earlier. "There was a culture at NBC News, in my experience, where women who raise questions about misconduct get labeled as troublemakers," she said. "It can torpedo your career. I already knew that, so I didn't want to make any trouble."

Brokaw responded by denying Vester's claims, issuing a statement to Variety insisting his dealings were her were nothing less than professional, and that he'd "made no romantic overtures towards her, at that time or any other." Brokaw also wrote a substantial email to friends and colleagues, rebutting each of her claims in detail. "It is 4:00 am on the first day of my new life as an accused predator in the universe of American journalism," Brokaw began his missive (via Vanity Fair). Vester's attorney, Ari Wilkenfeld, told Vanity Fair, "My client stands by the allegations, which speak for themselves."

The shady side of Megyn Kelly is well known, and she generated controversy from the moment she was hired away from Fox News by NBC in 2017. Her first gig for her new network, an interview with scandal-ridden conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, was hit with backlash, even before she began her new role hosting "Megyn Kelly Today," taking over the third hour of the "Today" show.

Drubbed by critics, "Megyn Kelley Today" did not last long. In October 2018, she and some guests were discussing the seemingly benign topic of Halloween costumes when she appeared to offer a defense of white people darkening their skin for their costume. "What is racist?" she asked. "You do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface for Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid, that was okay just as long as you were dressing as a character."

The backlash to her remarks was both furious and instantaneous. Despite an awkward on-air apology, Black "Today" colleagues Al Roker and Craig Melvin both criticized her unabashedly. Within days, NBC cancelled her show. There was one not-so-tiny problem: Kelly had signed a massively lucrative three-year contract, worth a reported $69 million. After months of negotiating, she parted ways with NBC. She landed on her feet, though, and was reportedly paid out the remainder of her contract.

For actors with a new movie to promote, the "Today" show is often one of their first stops. When Tom Cruise dropped by the show in 2005 to plug "War of the Worlds," Matt Lauer shifted gears to discuss Cruise's then-recent feud with Brooke Shields, whom he chided publicly for revealing she was able to overcome severe postpartum depression with the help of antidepressants (Cruise is an a longtime member of the Church of Scientology, which takes a highly negative view of psychiatry).

That led Lauer to dig into Cruise's Scientology-fueled beliefs about psychiatry and psychiatric drugs, leading to some contentious moments. "Here we are today, while I talk out against drugs and psychiatric abuses, of electric shocking people against their will, of drugging children with them not knowing," Cruise said, his tone becoming increasingly angrier. "Do you know now that Ritalin is a street drug?" he continued. When Lauer attempted to interject, Cruise shut him down. "Matt, I'm asking you a question," he continued, and then imperiously declared, "Here's the problem. You don't know the history of psychiatry. I do."

A few years later, Cruise returned to "Today" with a new attitude, admitting the PR damage wrought by his interview was deserved. "I learned a lesson," Cruise said. "In looking at myself, I came across arrogant," he added. "I absolutely could have handled that better."

During the years she spent chugging chardonnay alongside Hoda Kotb on "Today," let alone all those mornings spent with late TV icon Regis Philbin, Kathie Lee Gifford has interviewed countless celebrities. Her most infamous chat with a star, however, remains her 2012 "Today" sit-down with Martin Short when he asked Short about his wife, unaware that she died a couple of years earlier. "He and Nancy have got one of the greatest marriages of anybody in show business. How many years now for you guys?" Gifford asked Short. "We, uh, married 36 years," Short responded, taken aback but recovering quickly. "But you're still, like, in love!" Gifford gushed, her gaffe becoming even more cringeworthy. "Madly in love," Short replied. "Why?" Gifford continued, prompting Short to try to shut her down with a joke. "I'm cute."

Short informed her of his wife's passing during a commercial break, leading her to issue an on-air apology. In the interview's aftermath, Short found himself asked about Gifford's mistake and continued to address it diplomatically. "It was tricky," Short later admitted during an interview with iVillage, "but it was handled, I think, well."

During a subsequent appearance on "The Howard Stern Show," Short was reminded of the incident and confirmed Gifford was "terribly embarrassed" by her goof. "It's the weirdest thing, because remember, it's live television," Short said, recalling he wasn't clear on which tense she used when first mentioning his late wife. "Then she brought it up again, and I'm thinking, 'Oh my God.'"

Michael Vick transitioned from venerated quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons to controversial pariah after he wound up pleading guilty to being part of an illegal dogfighting ring in 2007. In 2009, Vick was released from prison after serving a 23-month sentence and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2011, he inked a six-year deal to remain with the team.

In July 2012, Vick dropped by the "Today" show, where he was interviewed by then-host Matt Lauer. While Vick was being introduced to viewers, B-roll footage was shown of Vick in action on the field. Or at least that was the intention; what ended up being shown was footage of another NFL player, Jerrod Johnson, who played with the Eagles before signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It was an embarrassing error for the show, considering that the only similarity between the two athletes was the fact that both are Black. Plus, Johnson isn't sporting Vick's distinctive No. 7 on his jersey and is also throwing the football right-handed (Vick is a leftie).

Imagine interviewing a celebrity and laughing at his bragging about what can only be described as sexual assault — only to be fired, while that celebrity is elected president of the U.S.A. That's a scenario that Billy Bush doesn't have to imagine, because he actually lived through it.

In the fall of 2016, while Donald Trump was in the midst of his first run for president, shocking audio was released in which Bush was interviewing him in 2005 for "Access Hollywood" and boasted about his stardom allowing him to walk up to women and "grab 'em by the p****." Trump issued a statement dismissing the conversation as "locker room banter," and wound up becoming America's 45th president. Bush, on the other hand, was not so lucky. Having recently begun a new gig on "Today," he was quickly fired by NBC after just a few months.

Bush later appeared on "Good Morning America," where he reflected on his own unemployment while Trump sat in the Oval Office. "The irony is glaring," Bush admitted. Laughing at Trump's remarks, he said, came about because he had only been on the show for a short time and felt unsure of his future with "Access Hollywood. "I was insecure ... I was a pleaser," Bush recalled. "I kind of remember wanting these celebrities to like me, so that I could keep going ... in this job."

Bryant Gumbel joined "Today" as anchor in 1982 and remained in the job until his exit in 1997. Arguably, his most notorious moment occurred midway through that run, in 1990. That was when a memo he wrote to Marty Ryan, then the executive producer of "Today," was leaked to the press.

Criticizing the show's shortcomings, Gumbel pulled no punches — particularly when it came to jovial "Today" weatherman Willard Scott. "Each and every day he holds the show hostage with to his assortment of whims, wishes, birthdays, and bad taste," Gumbel wrote. "This guy is killing us and no one's even trying to rein him in ... you don't limit him or edit him, and so he drags us all down." Gumbel's intentions were clear when he ended the memo by writing, "I just hope this all remains confidential because it's only meant to help you ... not hurt others."

Speaking to The New York Times Magazine, NBC executive Dick Ebersol — who was then the senior vice president in charge of "Today" — conceded Gumbel's message was harsh, but also pointed out he was not incorrect. ”Bryant can be a terribly driven taskmaster when it comes to that show,” said Ebersol, but added, ”The memo was the most insightful document ever written by a talent about the show he's involved in.”

Bryant Gumbel's leaked memo preceded a period of turmoil and plunging ratings for "Today," something he attributed (at least partly) to his own words becoming public. "I think one could draw a common line from the memo to the present and see everything spinning off it," he told The New York Times Magazine.

In the network's desperation to shore up ratings, longtime anchor Jane Pauley was preparing to exit while her far-younger replacement, Deborah Norville, was being transitioned into the mix. Viewers did not warm to Norville, incorrectly believing her to be responsible for Pauley's exist — busting up the on-air family they'd known and loved for years. Ratings plummeted, while the media had a field day mischaracterizing Norville as knifing her predecessor in the back. Speaking with Adweek's TVNewser, Pauley pinned the false narrative on late Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales. "[Shales] saw three people on the sofa saying, 'Good morning,' and immediately sees 'All About Eve,'" Pauley recalled. "After that, we were off and running."

According to Pauley, the media scrutiny of what was supposedly taking place behind the scenes was intense. "Almost every day there was something about the transition," Pauley said. "It was mischaracterized, because what was going on at the network was [happening] behind closed doors." Meanwhile, Norville had been forbidden from discussing the situation, which allowed the rumors to proliferate. "There was no way I could put my hand out and stop it," Norville explained. "It was controlled by people higher up the food chain in television than me." Just over a year after joining "Today," Norville left the show for maternity leave and was permanently replaced by Katie Couric.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).