The journalist explained why she’s had a subdued response to the news.
Ann Curry isn’t afraid to speak out.
The 61-year-old journalist visited The Late Show on Monday night, where she opened up to Stephen Colbert about her reaction to her former colleague, Matt Lauer, being fired from the Today show.
Noting that she does have a nondisclosure agreement, Curry added, “I do, but I can talk. I’m bold. I don’t want to cause pain, you guys.”
Colbert then brought up the viral “Somewhere Ann Curry…” tweets that expressed all the ways the longtime journalist could be celebrating Lauer’s exit.
“The truth is that I was raised Catholic by a Buddhist. So think about the Catholic guilt, mixed with the karma, worries, the intensity of that,” she explained. “It was like all of the sudden my brain – think Game of Thrones – the wall, it went up. There was this whole wall of, ‘Uh-uh, you can’t talk like that. You can’t think like that.’ So I didn’t, actually, get to enjoy it.”
“But isn’t this his karma?” Colbert asked.
“Well, that’s a good point, but.. and also you have to think about the pain. You know, a lot of people have suffered,” Curry said, referencing victims of sexual harassment and assault. “So I haven’t had a chance to celebrate for a lot of reasons.”
Curry exited the Today show in 2012. Rumors swirled that it was due to her lack of chemistry with Lauer. Colbert questioned if a female journalist was to be put in the same position as Curry today if the outcome would be different.
“I think that we’re not really done fixing the problem. We are a long way from fixing the problem,” she explained. “It’s more than a conversation. It’s about action and it’s about not just telling people they can’t do certain things. It’s about changing the dynamic, the power balance within companies so that women are not seen as people who could never rise to the top. Once we figure that out, we might have a chance to figure this out.”
And while she remained serious and mostly tight-lipped about the Lauer subject, Curry couldn’t help but gush about her secret crush on Colbert himself.
“I probably should tell you something. You may not want to hear this, but I actually have a baby crush on you,” she admitted. “I’m married so I can’t really have a crush on you. In fact, my husband’s in the audience, so I think it’s OK because he has a crush on you too. We watch you all the time, and you’re just so devastatingly witty and funny, and you’re just as adorable as a puppy dog. It’s so hard not to love you”
“I’m not sure why, but this is my favorite interview of all time,” Colbert replied, laughing.
For more on Curry’s recent response to the Lauer news, watch the clip below.
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