14 DAY TRIAL // Time always heals everything, they say, and this is also true in Matt Lauer’s case. One year ago, he was considered responsible for Ann Curry’s departure from The Today Show on NBC, his image was taking a huge hit, and there was even some talk about how he might be fired.
Today, Matt gets to ride to and from work – on the same set of The Today Show, you guessed it! – by helicopter, and the network picks up the tab.
Page Six reports that, when Matt renegotiated his contract with the network and agreed to stay on for 2 more years, through 2016, he also included a clause that ensured him free and very convenient transportation to and from work.
Matt lives in the Hamptons, and the commute by car would have kept him away from his family for much longer, he argued.
So, beside the $20 million (€15.44 million) he got, he also got a daily free chopper ride because, an insider claims for the tab, “NBC News chiefs want to do everything to keep Matt happy” because they consider him instrumental to the show’s success.
Now’s the time to say to yourself, man, how the tables have turned! In March 2013, rumors were saying that the same NBC bosses were looking to bring Anderson Cooper to take over from Lauer as anchor because they blamed him for the Ann Curry debacle – and quite justly so, if you believe reports online.
Contacted for comment, a rep for the network says, “On rare occasions, Matt will fly home, but most of the time you’ll find him stuck in traffic on the Long Island Expressway with everyone else.” In other words, yes, NBC is paying for his chopper rides, but they’re not daily.