Ann Curry speaks: “Not surprised” by Matt Lauer allegations

Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Former Today anchor and NBC News correspondent Ann Curry spoke out Wednesday morning about her former co-host Matt Lauer, saying she was “not surprised” by the allegations against him.

Lauer was abruptly fired last year following allegedly inappropriate sexual behavior.

In an interview on CBS This Morning, Curry said she did not want to “do harm” or cause more “pain,” but she address the atmosphere at NBC News she said she experienced while working there.

“I can tell you that I am not surprised by the allegations,” she said of Lauer. “I can [also] say that I would be surprised if many women did not understand that there was a climate of verbal harassment that existed…It was verbal sexual harassment.”

Curry added, “We clearly are waking up to a reality and injustice that’s occurred for some time.”

Curry left Today in 2012 abruptly, after a year as a co-anchor and 15 years with the show. In 2015, she left NBC News for good and is currently promoting her PBS docuseries, We’ll Meet Again.

When Lauer’s termination from NBC News was first announced in November, Curry wouldn’t speak specifically about it, but did tell People magazine at the time, “I’m still really processing it.”

She also said she admired all women who have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, saying they “need to…be able to thrive without fear.”

After his November termination, Lauer, 60, expressed his regret in a statement, saying in part, “Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed.”

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