“I couldn’t imagine writing something that wasn’t honest and radically transparent. I didn’t want to do a victory lap or my greatest hits. I’ve had an extraordinary life, incredible opportunities, I’ve had huge successes, I’ve had some pretty public failures, too,” Couric told Guthrie. “One of the reasons is — and you can relate to this, I think, Savannah — people have always said, ‘I feel like I know you.’ But as I say in my prologue, the box puts you in a box, the flat screen flattens. I wanted to share the messy parts, what real life was like.”
Katie Couric.Roy Rochlin/Getty
In last week’s PEOPLE cover story, Couricdiscussed these leaks(which she said were “cherry-picked and twisted”), how she felt “shocked” when shelearned of the sexual harassment allegationsagainst her former co-anchorMatt Lauerand herstruggle with bulimia in the 1980s.
Of Banfield, Couric writes in the book that she “heard through the grapevine that her father was telling anyone who’d listen that she was goingto replace me. In that environment, mentorship sometimes felt like self-sabotage.”
Katie Couric and Ashleigh Banfield.Rich Fury/VF20/Getty; Lars Niki/Getty
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“Absolutely not,” Couric told PEOPLE. “I think if someone was openly saying they were going to replace me, I don’t think I helped them. I never iced her out. I never criticized her. It just didn’t bring out my generous side.”
“The culture at the time and the scarcity of high-profile jobs for women — not to mention the fact that I watchedJane [Pauley]get pushed out [asTodayco-anchor in 1989] because of the whims of the men in charge — sometimes made me feel protective of my position,” she continued.
In her book, Couric admits to feeling like she needed to “protect my turf” on the morning news show, where she worked from 1991 through 2006, and says she was aware “someone younger and cuter was always around the corner,” naming Banfield, 53, as an example.
Banfield, who was an NBC correspondent in the early 2000s, decided to"correct the record"last month on herNewsNation show. She said Couric’s claims about her dad were “just not true.”
Tuesday, reflecting onwhen the news brokeof sexual harassment allegations against her on-air partner of nine years, Couric said onTodaythat it was “really, really hard, and it took me a long time to process what was going on.”
“The side of Matt I knew was the side of Matt I think you all knew. He was kind, generous, considerate, a good colleague,” she said. “As I got more information and learned more about what was going on behind the scenes. And then I did some of my own reporting, talked to people, tried to excavate what had been going on. It was really devastating and also disgusting.”
“I think what I realized is that there was a side of Matt I never really knew. I tried to understand why he behaved the way he did, and why he was so reckless, and callous, and honestly abusive to other women,” Couric said, adding that they have “no relationship” today.
Nevils went public toRonan Farrowfor his 2019 bookCatch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators. To Farrow, Nevilsalleged that Lauer raped herin his hotel room at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where she was working for NBC’sMeredith Vieira. Lauer has said all of his encounters were consensual.
“I think we’ve learned a lot,” she said of the shift that’s happened since she first entered the newsroom. “I think our understanding of what is a consensual relationship has changed dramatically, and now we know if there is a power dynamic, it can’t really be considered consensual.”
Matt Lauer and Katie Couric.James Devaney/WireImage
Couric said she didn’t notice anything alarming about Lauer’s interactions with other women in their almost two decades working together.
“He might comment on a movie star or something, saying, like, ‘Oof, she’s unbelievable,'” remembered Couric. “He was admiring of beautiful women. But I never felt he was pervy or inappropriate in my presence, ever.”
Couric’s shock and disappointment with Lauer is one of many emotional topics she explores inGoing There. She also addresses the sexism of the media industry and shares private moments from her life, including the loss of her husbandJay Monahanto colon cancer at 42.
Couric wrote the book, she says, as “a gift” to daughters Carrie, 25, andEllie, 30, and hopes it will “impart some wisdom from the experience I’ve gained” to them and to readers.
Going Therewill hit bookstores on Oct. 26.
source: people.com
