14 DAY TRIAL // Ann Curry is no longer a part of The Today Show and, even though that happened some time ago, people are still talking about how Matt Lauer was behind the nasty move. In fact, says a new report, Lauer is getting a daily reminder of that from regular people on the street.
TMZ reports that The Today Show anchor is getting a lot of hate whenever he’s out and about in Manhattan because people believe he orchestrated Curry’s forced departure from the show.
The irony of it all, the celebrity e-zine writes, is that he did nothing of the sort, so he’s getting all this heat for nothing.
Having people hurl abuse at him on the streets is really getting to him, inside and unnamed sources say for the e-zine.
“Matt is ‘miserable’ over what he believes are hateful and unfair tirades. Matt says the harassment is constant, with people screaming things like ‘You're a bad guy,’ and ‘You got Ann fired. Does that make you happy?’” TMZ writes.
Lauer is also getting picked on because of his impressive salary, a reported $25 million (€18.87 million). He does not see a connection between his paycheck and Ann’s departure over poor ratings.
“He feels ‘abused,’ insisting Ann's firing is not his fault. But, as TMZ first reported, Matt made it clear when he re-signed – he didn't want Ann in the picture,” the aforementioned media outlet says.
“It's driving him crazy. He's so unhappy,” an insider explains.
That may be the case, but it doesn’t change the fact that Matt’s future with NBC is “secure,” the publication writes, whereas Curry was fired after just one year on the job on the pretense that the ratings had dipped and she was mainly to blame for it.
TMZ isn’t the only media outlet to say that Lauer asked for Curry to be fired from the show. Perhaps even worse than speculation in the media is the fact that even the people at home believe it – and many have already stopped watching The Today Show because of it.