'Today' Tell-All Hones In on Ann Curry's Firing

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Last summer, Ann Curry was dismissed from the NBC morning show Today as co-host. The move has drawn plenty of criticism in the months that have followed, and now a tell-all book has been released detailing an alleged organized scheme to oust Curry from the show.


New York Times
reporter Brian Stelter's new book Top of the Morning hones in on the recent activity surrounding Today, from a reported attempt to land Robin Roberts as co-anchor with Matt Lauer to the longstanding morning show ratings war.


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At the forefront of the tell-all is the dismissal of Ann Curry, which the reporter alleges was planned well in advance.

"It wasn't obvious at the time, but Ann Curry was a dead woman walking," the Top of the Morning author said. "She was never really given a chance to co-host the show. She was being undermined the whole time."


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Stelter contends that Curry's firing was conceived when Today's ratings began to slip when the show was exceeded by morning show rival Good Morning America, and a plan, internally referred to as "Operation Bambi," was brewed.

Curry was sacked from Today in June of last year but immediately signed a new contract with the network as NBC News National and International Correspondent and also Today's anchor-at-large.


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"Ann Curry's last few days at 'Today' were gut-wrenching," Stelter said. "I was watching outside from the windows and I could see that Matt Lauer and Ann Curry would never speak to each other except when they had to on camera."

Stelter's Today tell-all, Top of the Morning, was released yesterday.