Katie Couric Hopes Matt Lauer Learned His Lesson: ‘It’s Shocking’

Katic Couric hopes her former Today Show co-anchor Matt Lauer learned his lesson after he was fired in November for alleged sexual misconduct.

During an interview at SXSW on Sunday with The Wrap, Couric said she was “one of the lucky ones,” suggesting that her position of power kept her from being harassed.

“I certainly dealt with sexist environments and environments that marginalized and didn’t give women their due, and didn’t treat women as intellectual equals, but it’s hit very close to home with Matt Lauer and what happened there,” Couric said at The Wrap‘s Power Women Breakfast event in Austin, Texas. “It’s been an important experience for me because I never faced this kind of treatment. I was one of the lucky ones — I think I am harassable and I’m not harassable in that sense, and I think it is because I was in a position of power early in my career.”

Couric and Lauer co-hosted Today for 15 years, until 2006. She returned on several occasions, even anchoring a week in January 2017 to mark Lauer’s 20th anniversary on the show.

“I hope he’s trying to figure out and understand his behavior and why he did it and why it was so wrong,” Couric said.

The 61-year-old Couric described her working relationship with Lauer as “wonderful,” which is why the allegations are “shocking, honestly, and disturbing, disorienting, disheartening.”

“But I think, he’s not the only one who behaves in this way,” she continued. “People all over the place … have participated in this kind of behavior, that have used their power in an exploitative and unacceptable way.”

Lauer was fired in November after allegations of sexual misconduct, including an incident during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Since he was fired, Lauer and his wife, Annette Roque, started divorce proceedings. Lauer apologized, although he said some of the allegations were not true.

In Texas, Couric said men should be included in the conversation about sexual harassment to educate them

“Cultures have existed in the media, and in every arena, where behaviors were tolerated, people looked the other way, it was an accepted way of doing business,” Couric explained. “I don’t think people paid much attention to it.”

“In my case, it was something I was unaware of because if you talk to experts about this, people are very proficient at being secretive about certain behavior and making sure people don’t witness certain behaviors. Culturally, it’s a huge problem: the tone that is set from the top. About having a complete male management structure, the very presence of women reduces toxic masculinity in the work place. Putting women in more leadership jobs with real authority and vision-making ability is absolutely critical if we’re going to change the culture,” she continued.