Matt Lauer 'Crisis Experts' Request Denied by Comcast Network? He's 'Lost Faith'
Matt Lauer, after being denied his request for crisis management experts, has decided to play a more active role in publicity for the "Today Show," a report has stated.
Following the firing of Ann Curry, the "Today Show" suffered a huge publicity crisis. Ratings dropped as some viewers, who sympathized with Curry's last tearful moments on the show, decided to watch their morning news elsewhere. Due to the upheaval, Lauer recommended that the network hire specialists to handle the crisis, a source has said.
"Matt's wanted to bring in an outside PR agency," a source close to the morning show told The New York Post. "He lost faith and has wanted a crisis team in place."
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But the Comcast Network denied Lauer's alleged request, prompting him to handle the situation himself.
"Since they haven't hired an outside agency, he's taking matters into his own hands," the source said.
A second source added that the "Today" show even went as far as to interview possible firms to handle the disaster, but were shut down by the network.
"They were looking for [outside firms] in the fall," the source told The Post. "But it was a case of the higher-ups at Comcast not wanting to bring someone in."
Lauer has previously openly admitted that the network did not handle the situation in the best way.
"I don't think the show and the network handled the transition well. You don't have to be Einstein to know that," the news anchor told The Daily Beast. "It clearly did not help us. We were seen as a family, and we didn't handle a family matter well."
Steve Capus, who stepped down in February as NBC News president, also defended Lauer.
"When Matt was informed that we had made this decision, his good counsel was to go slow, to take care of Ann, and to do the right things," Capus said. "He was quietly and publicly a supporter of Ann's throughout the entire process. It is unfair that Matt has shouldered an undue amount of blame for a decision he disagreed with."
