Former Today show anchor Ann Curry said she was not surprised when she heard about sexual misconduct allegations against her former coanchor Matt Lauer. In her first television interview since leaving NBC in 2015, Curry, appearing on CBS This Morning, said she'd be surprised if other women at NBC didn't understand there was a pervasive culture of verbal sexual harassment.
Asked whether she believed Lauer abused his power in his position, Curry said she was "not trying to do harm in these conversations," but that she was "not surprised" by the allegations against him.
Lauer was fired from Today in November, following multiple reports from coworkers of sexual misconduct.
Asked again about the allegations against her former cohost, Curry repeated, "I'm trying not to hurt people. I know what it's like to be publicly humiliated. I never did anything wrong to be publicly humiliated, and I don't want to cause that kind of pain to somebody else."
"I can say that I — because you're asking me a very direct question — I can say that I would be surprised if many women did not understand that there was a climate of verbal harassment that existed," she continued. "I think it would be surprising if someone said that they didn't see that. It was verbal sexual harassment."
Curry added that she did not know "a single woman who has not endured some form of sexual harassment, and many women have endured workplace sexual harassment," saying that harassment has "happened to [her] in multiple jobs, and it's a way of sidelining women."
Ultimately, Curry said, these types of abuses are bad not only for women in the workplace, but for the companies they work for and the nation — as it is "limiting of people."
Curry also said that the national conversation should be focusing more on the victims and on plans of action than on the scandals.
"What are we going to do to remove the stigma and the shame, and make sure these women work and are not sidelined and prevented from contributing to the greater good?" she asked.
Curry went on to discuss her new six-part series on PBS, We'll Meet Again, about people who have lived through major events in history and their experiences.