Matt Lauer Reportedly Sabotaged NBC’s Ability to Replace Him on ‘Today’

NBC is reportedly having a very difficult time replacing Matt Lauer on the Today show, and that may be due to Lauer sabotaging their ability to.

A source close to the show spoke with journalists and said, “Matt killed off, in their infancy, every man who could succeed him at the time that he was ready to hang it up — so there’s nobody to take his place. And now NBC is paying the price.”

According to Page Six, insiders are reporting that during his 20-year reign as “the golden boy of NBC” Lauer made sure that potential replacements never got a chance to be groomed for the position.

The list of men he allegedly shut down includes David Gregory, Josh Elliott, and former Today co-host Billy Bush.

While Bush was effectively let go after his involvement with a lewd conversation between himself and Donald Trump was made public, he was at one time considered the most likely candidate for the job.

Reportedly, Craig Melvin, who is a host on Weekend Today is being strongly considered for the job of Lauer’s replacement, but that is also apparently not ideal as one NBC executive said of Melvin, “I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup.”

Early reports claimed that Megyn Kelly was interested in taking Lauer’s spot on Today after the host was fired for sexual harassment, but a separate report stated she isn’t being considered for that role.

“The network likes Megyn in her current role,” a source said. “The rumor around the Today offices is that Willie Geist could be the one to replace Matt.”

While nothing official has been revealed, a separate source said, “It is really clear that we need to change the way we do our day-to-day work and figure out our priorities.”

“It’s been a rough week for everyone,” the source added.