By now, more than a few dirty jokes from a 2008 Matt Lauer roast have resurfaced. While none of them aged well, a few in particular stand out as particularly vulgar, including the one from Gilbert Gottfried concerning Ann Curry.
According to a report published at the time by the Village Voice, the stand-up comedian focused his jokes not on the subject of the roast, but on Curry, who had worked with Lauer on Today since 1997.
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“People ask me, does Ann Curry’s p— go sideways?” Gottfried reportedly said to gasps.
Gottfried then went on to tell a raunchy joke he says was told to him by Curry.
“Ann Curry told me this one,” he began. “Two sisters…The first sister is e— out the second sister’s a—hole, and the second sister is playing the trombone with her p—,” at which point, the rest of the dirty joke went unreported.
As a stand-up comedian, this certainly isn’t Gottfried’s first venture into raunchy jokes, but that doesn’t mean those jokes are holding up well under today’s political climate.
Earlier this month, daytime talk show host Wendy Williams alleged that she was groped on live TV by her “least favorite” guest, who she said rested his head on her breasts, looked up and said, “Oh! You’re not Oprah.” While Williams did not name any specific names, fans did drag up photos of Gottfried doing exactly what Williams described of the 2011 incident.
The 2008 Lauer roast occurred before Curry’s dramatic 2012 exit as co-anchor next to Lauer, whom many Today viewers accuse of being complicit, if not instrumental, in her exit from the lead position.
At the roast, Katie Couric also made a joke at Curry’s expense, saying about Lauer, “He loves to eat Curry.”
The room reportedly erupted in laughter as Curry “blanched” in shock. Couric then followed the double entendre up by playing off the insinuation.
“What? Indian food! What’s wrong with you people!” Couric said.
This insinuation of improper sexual relationships in the workplace is now troubling due to the sexual assault and harassment allegation levied against Lauer. He allegedly sent inappropriate photos to an intern and sexually assaulted a woman in his office to the point that she passed out, among other accounts.
Remarks like Couric’s and Gottfried’s imply that Lauer’s co-workers and others in the business were aware of his sexual deviance, which casts doubts on those who appeared to be shocked at the initial news of Lauer’s firing.
Lauer was fired last week from his long-time position as lead anchor for Today after a colleague filed a “detailed complaint” alleging “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.”
