Chris Brown appeared on the Today Show yesterday to promote his new album, and there are some issues. Thankfully, Chris didn’t slam a chair into a window, nor did he get in someone’s face and threaten to kill someone. So… progress? Except not so much. Matt Lauer asked Chris specifically about what he learned from beating the hell out of Rihanna and getting a slap on the wrist for it. To give Lauer some credit, he wasn’t ass-kissy at all and he gave Chris enough room to throw out some crazy quotes. Lauer gets right into it like less than one minute into the interview:

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When Lauer asked Chris about the Rihanna situation, Brown says: “I’ve been humbled by the whole experience. From me losing everything, you know, to me having to regain public opinion or whatever it is — but most importantly, you know, knowing that what I did was totally wrong and having to kind of deal with myself and kind of forgive myself in the same breath and being able to apologize to, you know, Rihanna and be that man that can be who is a man, you know?” I love how he lists forgiving himself before apologizing to Rihanna. Priorities!

When Lauer asked specifically about how Chris doesn’t seem to have changed that much, that Chris still has a short fuse and he’s always getting into violent situations, Chris says: “I think everybody is entitled to their opinion. For me, it’s just a learning process. You know, I have to just take it one day at a time. I can’t make everybody like me … it’s about me being positive.” Chris also says “everything’s good” about Rihanna.

I have to admit… while I don’t buy that Chris is a “changed man” or that he learned any lesson other than “if you almost kill your girlfriend, you can still win her back AND keep your fans AND sell albums,” this is one of his best interviews to date, just on how prepared he was. If I didn’t know any better and if I hadn’t been writing about his violent douche eruptions for the past few years, I might have been taken in. Chris had his talking points down and it seems like he’s worked with some kind of image consultant to learn how to adopt a less aggressive public posture. I’m not saying that Chris’s statements were close to being acceptable or anything, I’m just saying that he’s been prepped and it shows.

But that hasn’t stopped Team Breezy idiots (yeah, I said it) from coming out of the woodwork to defend their man from the demon known as Matt Lauer. Lauer is actually getting it from both sides too – Team Breezy is all “OMG, Lauer asked Chris about beating Rihanna, Lauer is awful!!” And anti-domestic violence advocates are nit-picking the language Lauer used when questioning Chris. Matt Lauer is a man without a country at this point. Nothing he does will ever be enough.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

Matt Lauer continues his descent into self-perpetuated villainy at the hands of the “Today” audience for his (allegedly prominent) role in the ousting of Ann Curry. Do you think Ann has her popcorn readied for all of the recent developments in this mess? I hope she does. Most recently, Matt appealed to the Daily Beast about how “Today” is “a family,” and it wasn’t his fault that Ann had to leave the show. CB further reported that Matt’s contract is about to expire, and that Willie Geist is the leading contender to replace him. But Matt isn’t done trying to change the general public’s mind on this matter, and now he’s got a new cover story with NY Mag that spans eight pages yet has nothing new except for more whining from Matt about how he feels so misunderstood. What’s next? Deadline says that someone new — Anderson Cooper — has been approached to replace Matt. Everyone dislikes Matt, and everyone loves the Coop. Let’s do this:

Embattled Today anchor Matt Lauer, already the focus of blistering criticism for the ouster of co-anchor Ann Curry and the ratings slide at NBC‘s morning show, has long been rumored to be on the chopping block – despite his $25 million contract and recent efforts aimed at rehabilitating his image. Here’s the latest wrinkle: I hear NBC toppers recently reached out to CNN’s Anderson Cooper to replace Lauer on the show before the end of the year. After their initial approach to Cooper, I hear NBC reached out to Lauer to get his blessing about the changeover. But I heard they got pushback from the Today veteran, who contacted Cooper to express his disapproval. I also hear that call caught Cooper by surprise, as he had assumed Lauer had been brought on board before NBC began making overtures. Cooper has been one of the leading faces at CNN, though I hear his contract has an out, and he previously was able to do his syndicated daytime talk show in addition to his CNN program.

Cooper’s is just the latest name to be rumored to replace Lauer, who inked a long-term contract last year. Ryan Seacrest, current Today co-host Willie Geist and Meet The Press host David Gregory have all been reportedly considered by NBC. Lauer, meanwhile, has been tied to rumors (along with Cooper, Brian Williams and Dan Patrick) to take over for Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek when the longtime game show host decides to retire.

[From Deadline]

Indeed, the buzz over what Matt Lauer will do when (not if) he ends up leaving “Today” is that he’ll take over hosting “Jeopardy!” Who knows when this will happen, but I think it’s a good fit because no one really cares about the personality of a trivia game host, and Matt would essentially be working alone on the show as far as being “in charge” goes. No co-hosts, just contestants, and the program probably shoots a week’s worth of episodes at a time like most game shows tend to do. That would free up a lot of time for Matt to attend to other duties, which will probably include a memoir (that no one will buy) about how everyone hates him.

Enough about Matt Lauer though … how about this silver fox for a “Today” show co-anchor?

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News and WENN

This story is kind of sweet even though this recent trend of asking a celebrity to a dance is getting slightly old, but I guess we have the internet to thank for rapid proliferation of these videos to viral status. It all started, of course, a few years ago when Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake were both asked to the Marine Corp Ball(s), and then another Marine upped the ante and asked out Betty White as well. Betty gracefully ducked out of her invite due to work obligations, but Mila and JT both went on their dates — basically because they were encouraged to do so as part of their Friends With Benefits promotion, I think. I’m not knocking them because they shouldn’t be expected to go on dates with complete strangers, right? It’s kind of silly and potentially dangerous to do so. Also, their acquiescence only encourages other people who want to continue the trend of hoping for a date with their dream celebrity.

Now a high school senior, Jake Davidson, has asked Kate Upton to his prom. He made a video, which has been featured on “Today,” and Kate called in to the show to surprise him. Check out this dude’s face in this video when he realizes she’s on the line:

In response to Jake’s question, Kate gave a very diplomatic response: “I’d definitely have to check my schedule, but you seem like so much fun, and if everything works out, I’d love to go with you. I know we’d have a blast.” Isn’t that sweet? I have a feeling that she means it too. Nobody made her (or so I’m guessing) call into “Today” to talk to this dude, and it’s not like she was scheduled on the program to promote anything. She just wanted to surprise him. You gotta love this chick.

In slightly related news, Maria Shriver has been helping out “Today” on air (for the first time in several years) by reporting with Matt Lauer in Rome to help cover the new Pope stuff. Supposedly, she’s been very well received, and NBC is courting her strongly for an official “comeback to NBC” not only on “Today” but also their nighttime news programs as well. She should just replace Matt, and possibly Savannah Guthrie too. Let’s just clone Maria, and she could host “Today” all by herself. Ratings problem solved!

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

Earlier this week, The Daily Beast ran an interview with Matt Lauer on what happened at the Today Show nine months ago during Ann Curry’s perfunctory firing. It was way too little, too late and it was clear that higher-ups at NBC didn’t want Matt Lauer to take the fall for it. He took some modicum of responsibility, but the story went that Ann had to go and that it wasn’t Lauer’s doing. He said “I don’t think the show and the network handled the transition well. You don’t have to be Einstein to know that. It clearly did not help us. We were seen as a family, and we didn’t handle a family matter well.”

So Lauer wants us to know that he wasn’t responsible for the way Ann was ushered out, but that weak gesture isn’t going to do much for him. The Today Show has been way down in the ratings and now it’s clear that Matt is the problem. He’s about to get ousted too although he’ll probably have to wait until his fat contract expires next year. I guess Ann didn’t have that protection built into hers. The NY Times has a pretty juicy piece about the goings-on at NBC, and how everyone thinks Matt is the problem.

Staff members at NBC’s “Today” show huddled for a performance review last month, 10 months after the longtime morning show leader first fell behind ABC’s “Good Morning America” in the ratings. The mood was anxious, according to several attendees, as network executives discussed the findings from focus groups with hundreds of viewers.

The employees were reassured that “Today” viewers didn’t want their show to turn into “Good Morning America,” the ABC rival that has become Americans’ No. 1 choice in the mornings. But then they were told this: “What matters most is the anchor connection to the audience; what we need to work on is the connection.” As the word “connection” was repeated, some people in the room started to chuckle because of a name that went unspoken: Matt Lauer.

“What they meant was Matt. But no one would say it,” said a senior staff member who, like the others, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mr. Lauer was not there, but it is clear that the once-popular host’s relationship with his audience is in peril. Last April, Mr. Lauer signed a contract said to be worth $25 million a year, the most lucrative deal in the 60-year history of morning television. And then the bottom fell out.

The following week, “Today” fell to second place in the morning ratings for the first time in 16 years. When his co-host, Ann Curry, was forced out over the summer, it was Mr. Lauer and not network executives who shouldered most of the blame.

Since then, his popularity among viewers has plummeted and NBC has been forced to deny what was unthinkable a year ago: the rumor that Mr. Lauer, 55, who first took over the co-host chair in 1997, could soon be replaced by a younger host like Willie Geist, 37, or David Gregory, 42…

The employees spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution from Mr. Lauer and their bosses. They all agreed that his contract, thought to keep him at “Today” through at least 2014, would be his last.

[From The NY Times via Radar]

Willie Geist, 37, is the lead contender to replace Lauer, and The NY Times reports that before that happens they’ll probably bring in another anchor so that the audience isn’t so focused on that a-hole Matt and how much of a smug jerk he is. I’m adding a bunch of adjectives in there, but that’s the subtext. Maybe Lauer isn’t totally to blame for the way Ann got shafted, and maybe other people were behind it too, but he just highlights how unfair the whole situation was. Plus it’s not like he was advocating for her in any way, and you get the sense that if she would have dressed sexier and flirted with him, that would have happened. It’s about time he got knocked off his high horse.

The fallout continues from last year’s unceremonious ousting of Ann Curry from her co-host spot on NBC’s “Today” show, and this is truly a blood bath if there ever was one in a morning show context. Due to Matt Lauer’s inability to hide his own fakeness and insincere attitude towards Ann, Matt is largely seen as the reason Ann was removed from her position and demoted to a global correspondent where she is rarely seen on-air. As a result, Lauer’s brand has taken a huge hit, and ratings are down. We’ve already heard some attempts at damage control, but it’s too late because even the “Today” staff hates Matt now.

So Matt sat down with the Daily Beast to try and patch up some of the ongoing bleeding that has resulted in “GMA” taking over the #1 ratings spot over the past several months with Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos drawing 5.8 million viewers in comparison to 4.8 million for Today. Matt really doesn’t appear to understand why he’s catching a lot of the blame for Curry’s departure. While Matt freely acknowledges that he was against Ann’s promotion from the news desk in the first place, sources within the article make the half-hearted claim that he tried to convince NBC bosses to slow down the and give Ann more time before reducing her role, but they didn’t listen to him.

The article is rather comprehensive and includes details of how Matt had met with Katie Couric to basically beg her to come back to “Today.” What I don’t get is this — if Matt was so instrumental in reaching out to Katie on behalf of NBC execs, why does he think we’ll believe that he essentially had nothing to do with Ann’s ousting? Like, he’s saying that he had no authority to tell bosses to get rid of Ann, but we know better than that. Viewers even apparently yelled at him on the street about his role in the process, but Lauer still maintains that none of this mess was his doing and that, further, it was the NBC bosses’ idea to buffer Ann’s departure with the notion that it was her idea. That she wanted to “return to her first love, which is reporting.” What a mess, right? Here are some excerpts from the Beast’s talk with Matt:

On the onset of post-Curry backlash: “It was a hard time for everybody. We were getting kicked around a lot. Some of it was self-inflicted and perhaps deserved. I don’t think the show and the network handled the transition well. You do’’t have to be Einstein to know that. It clearly did not help us. We were seen as a family, and we didn’t handle a family matter well.”

He’s sad but wants to make a new “Today” show: “I’m not going to whine or get depressed. Who’s going to feel sorry for me? Nobody.” Besides, he says, “I am the luckiest guy I know. In some ways being No. 2 in the ratings is a real shot in the arm, a kick in the pants. It makes you hungrier … I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have a fire lit under your ass.”

Lauer says he tried to warn Ann: “Lauer and Curry had a candid talk over lunch at the Four Seasons. He acknowledged she hadn’t been his first choice for co-host, but said that was in the past. Curry said that both Lauer and the show would take a hit if she was thrown overboard, and he agreed. Lauer suggested that she try to get a meeting with Burke and resolve the situation. He also advised Curry, who didn’t employ an agent, to hire one quickly.”

Viewers expressed their displeasure directly to Matt: People would stop Lauer on the street and complain about Curry’s banishment. While Lauer was riding in a London elevator at the Olympics, an American woman got on, saw him and said: “I hate what you’ve done. I will never watch you again.” Such incidents left him shaken.

[From The Daily Beast]

Of course, everyone who watched Ann cry on her last day as co-host knows very well that her demotion was not her choice. The NBC execs just didn’t consider that morning show viewers grow very attached to the same faces — Ann was with “Today” for 15 years as a correspondent, then as news anchor, and finally as co-host. While Ann was good on the news desk, she didn’t have the right tone to be a co-host; yet to replace her with milquetoast Samantha Guthrie was a ridiculous move, and I honestly can’t believe they couldn’t find anyone better. Some of the local news anchors in my city have more personality than this chick. Anyway, the viewers were very partial to Ann even if her interviewing skills weren’t so great, and NBC (with key involvement from Lauer) really messed up in a possibly irrepairable way with her sudden departure. Suck it, Matt.

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News and WENN

Back in the mid 1990s, Matt Lauer was NBC’s golden boy when he took over “Today” anchor duties from Bryant Gumbel, but now, he’s pretty much dirt, and I think he’s finally beginning to realize this fact. Matt’s brand was damaged, perhaps irrepairably, when he basically got Ann Curry fired from her co-anchor position. Ironically, ratings have fallen since Ann’s departure, which has led to “Today” losing its leading spot to “GMA,” and Matt has faced a rumored paycut as a result because “Today” bosses suspect that he’s the reason for fallen ratings. What’s more, the “Today” staff is said to hate Matt for what he did to Ann, and even Al Roker jokes that Matt throws people under the bus for his own benefit.

Now Ann, who has been relegated to a much lesser position and very little NBC airtime, has received an offer to take over Anderson Cooper’s 8pm timeslot on CNN. In a strange move, Matt is said to be campaigning NBC bosses to let Ann out of her contract so she can make the move. Suspicious?

Matt Lauer is telling his bosses at NBC that his former TODAY co-anchor Ann Curry should be let out of her contract immediately so the respected journalist can take a job at CNN, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.

“Matt thinks that NBC should let Ann out of her contract so that she can take the CNN gig,” a source tells Radar. “He can’t imagine why the bosses are dragging their feet and are at a stalemate. It would allow Ann to get back on the air on a regular basis and everyone can move on from the debacle. Matt only wishes Ann the best and thinks it’s for the best if she were to take a job at another network.”

As previously reported, almost two weeks after Ann notified NBC executives that she wanted out of her contract, her bosses are still keeping her in the dark about whether they’ll release her so she can go to CNN.

Curry is hoping to make the move in February where she’d join her former TODAY boss Jeff Zucker, who is now running the cable news network.

Zucker has his eye on Curry to occupy Anderson Cooper‘s current 8 pm EST time slot.

Since Curry’s disastrous departure from TODAY this past summer, ratings on the once-dominant morning program have continually declined, allowing ABC’s rival Good Morning America to capture the #1 spot.

[From Radar Online]

I really think that Matt’s intervention in this matter on behalf of Ann is a clear attempt to repair his own reputation in the eyes of his co-workers and the public. If his strategy works and Ann goes on to flourish at CNN, then he can always step up later and say, “See? I helped her get there.” I can even envision a future Friar’s club roast in Ann’s honor where Matt makes “jokes” about their past rumored kertuffle. He’s such a self-serving douche.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

Here are some photos from Ke$ha’s appearance last week on the “Today” show where some mime put his hand on her butt while she performed. Quite odd, yes, and I never thought it would happen, but Ke$ha has gotten under my skin. Her interviews have always been pretty entertaining and witty, but I never really gave her music more than a moment of recognition at the gym before slipping on my iPod earbuds. Now things have changed, and I’ve actually downloaded a few of her singles because they’re motivating me to run faster on the treadmill. Today’s entire workout was actually set to the tune of “Die Young” on repeat. I don’t know what’s going on here because usually Top 40 music slowly drives me insane. Maybe it’s some Illuminati spell or something.

To promote her upcoming album, Warrior, Ke$ha has sat down with Financial Times Weekend for an interview. She talked a lot about her desire to obliterate sexism in pop music and rap, and here are some excerpts via Contact Music:

Ke$ha’s goal with her music is to end sexism in pop.

The 25-year-old singer found worldwide fame with her single “Tik Tok” – which was criticised for promoting drinking and promiscuity – and she doesn’t think it’s fair that men are allowed to sing about getting drunk and women aren’t.

She said: “If men can talk about drinking in every awesome rock ‘n’ roll song and every awesome rap song, why can’t a woman? Just because I drink doesn’t mean I’m a drunk. Just because I have sex, and I’m not embarrassed doesn’t mean I’m a wh-re.

“If men can do it, why can’t a woman do it? I really feel one of my main reasons for being on this earth is to level out the playing field just a little bit.”

The “Die Young” hitmaker – who is just about to release her second album Warrior – considers herself a feminist and insists she is determined to push the boundaries of what women can do.

When asked if she’s a feminist, she told the Financial Times Weekend magazine: “In some ways. In the ways that I feel I can do the same things men can do, and be just as rock ‘n’ roll and bad ass and not feel shameful or be shamed for it.”

[From Contact Music]

She does have a point. If Eminem can rap, “Now where’s the rubbers? Who’s got the rubbers? I noticed there’s so many of them and there’s really not that many of us” and be celebrated for his lyrical genius, why can’t Ke$ha do it too? Still and the way I see it, sexism goes both ways in pop music. Just as a recent example, Christina Aguilera’s “Your Body” video features her sleeping with random dudes and killing them. Because she’s a chick, she can (sort of) get away with the video under some strange “empowerment” justification. But if Eminem did that? He’d be crucified if he made the same sort of video. So I guess the grass is greener when it comes to gender and getting away with certain things as a pop artist.

Here’s Matt Lauer watching Ke$ha perform on “Today.” He doesn’t look very impressed, but he’s a tool anyway.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet

As you’ve probably heard, The Today Show’s ratings have only fallen since Ann Curry was replaced as co-anchor by Savannah Guthrie. Curry was summarily dumped because Matt Lauer didn’t want her around and she was an easy scapegoat for the morning show’s falling viewership. Now that ratings continue to drop, someone needs to take the blame and it’s falling squarely on Matt Lauer’s overinflated head. An former insider at NBC tells The NY Daily News that Matt Lauer needs to step down in order to save the show. After how he treated Ann, his “brand is damaged” and there’s nothing they can do to fix it. How does the shoe feel on the other foot, Matt?

TV industry insiders say no amount of NBC executive reshuffling can save the embattled “Today” show — until its longtime co-host throws in the towel.

Lauer has been blamed for the show’s ratings woes, which intensified in June when co-host Ann Curry was suddenly ditched and replaced by Savannah Guthrie.

“This problem is not going to go away until Matt Lauer does,” a prominent former NBC News exec told the Daily News on Tuesday. “He’s great, but fairly or unfairly, his brand is damaged.”

The sentiment comes just as a new production team is poised to take over “Today,” which has fallen into second place this year behind archrival “Good Morning America” in the cutthroat ratings race.

Alexandra Wallace, 46, a TV news veteran with morning show experience and a senior vice president at NBC News, will take charge of the show in the near future. She will appoint a new executive producer to replace Jim Bell, who has been running “Today” since 2005.

Bell was behind the unceremonious ouster of Curry.

Competitors like ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “CBS This Morning” are celebrating the move, claiming that Wallace is no turnaround expert.

“Nothing’s changed here,” an industry competitor said of Wallace, a mother of two young children.

“She was put in charge of (Brian Williams’ prime-time magazine) ‘Rock Center’ just earlier this year, and they’re still rock bottom in prime time.” As a top executive at NBC News, she has also had a hand in the slow-motion “Today” ratings collapse.

“They just keep throwing layers of management on this problem,” another competitor said.

[From The NY Daily News]

It’s worth noting that the source here is a “former” NBC executive, and that Matt might still have the current execs under his creepy spell. Someone must like him over there to have put up with his ego and (alleged!) infidelities with female co-workers.

Radar has a related story today that suggests that may no longer be the case. They say that Matt is butting heads with his new boss, Andrea Wallace (mentioned in the article above), and that she isn’t firmly in his corner. Apparently Wallace is mixing things up in an attempt to boost ratings and she’s “a big advocate of Ann Curry’s.” She’s replacing the guy who pushed Curry out (allegedly!) at Matt’s urging. This guy has needed an ego check for years and it looks like it’s finally coming.

Matt Lauer is shown out on 7-17-12 (credit: Hector Vallenilla, PacificCoastNews.com) and grabbing up on Pink on 9-18-12. Photo with Savannah Guthrie is from 8-23 (credit: Dan Jackman./WENN.com)

Does anyone else remember when Matt Lauer was promoted to co-host (replacing Bryant Gumbel) from the morning news position? It happened during the mid-to-late 1990s, and I remember enjoying the “Today” show to such a bizarre degree that I actually scheduled my college classes so that I could watch the program before leaving for the day. If it tells you anything at all about my change of heart, I haven’t sat down to watch the show for over a decade (although I do sometimes catch Kathie Lee & Hoda’s drunken antics later in the day at the gym). Back in the day, Matt seemed rather humble, and I recall that (after a few weeks in his new position) he spoke quite candidly of his fear that ratings would plummet immediately after he started co-hosting. Obviously, that didn’t happen because (I think) at that point, Matt was seen as an earnest, good guy who only reported straight news, and Bryant was quite the large-headed diva who was leaving for greener pastures (his own show).

Fast forward about fifteen years, and now Matt (according to Page Six) has “turned into an anchor animal.” Further, he’s said to be “making all editorial decisions, he’s running the show and he’s not listening to anyone … it’s a huge problem.” Matt is said to be losing his mind over “GMA” winning in the ratings against “Today” for the past several weeks, and one has to wonder whether Matt’s own attitude has anything to do with the fact that viewers are tuning out. Further, the show’s staff hates him and want him replaced with Lester Holt (which won’t happen), and even Al Roker doesn’t like him anymore either because he threw Ann Curry under the bus. Regardless of whether or not Ann was right for the co-host position, she was obviously treated poorly by Matt, who supposedly made it part of his contract renewal that she’d be fired. Then viewers watched Matt feign sympathy while Ann shed real tears over losing her job. As it turns out, viewers don’t soon forget who the real douche is, and falling ratings mean that Matt will soon be asked to take a “significant” pay cut. He deserves it.

Matt Lauer will be asked to take a significant pay cut if TODAY ratings continue to decline, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.

“Matt Lauer will be asked to take a significant cut in his $25 million salary if TODAY doesn’t win the key November sweeps,” a source close to the situation tells Radar. “The May and November sweeps dictate how much the networks can charge for advertising and they are extremely important to the bottom line. The TODAY show had always been a cash cow for NBC, generating hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue.

“Comcast, which now owns NBC Universal, is going through the budgets of each show and right now, they are focusing on the news division. Matt’s salary is the biggest part of the TODAY show’s budget and with Good Morning America now routinely beating them, it’s just hard to justify that salary.

“Matt is under contract so it will have to be a voluntary decision, but the argument will be made that if he doesn’t agree to lose some of his salary then people’s jobs will have to be cut. Bottom line is money will have to be saved somewhere and he will be asked to do the ‘right thing’ by his staff.”

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Lauer’s popularity with viewers is in a free fall. According to the influential Q Scores, his “likability” has plummeted 25 percent in just 12 months.

Q Scores are one of the most important factors companies use in deciding where to advertise, and the organization’s analysis of Lauer mirrors an internal study done at NBC, according to The New York Daily News.

The likability collapse covered the year when Meredith Vieira left Lauer’s side on the morning show’s anchor desk, to be replaced by Ann Curry and then by Savannah Guthrie.

“It raises a flag,” Henry Schafer, Executive Vice President of Q Scores, told The News. “These morning shows are driven by personalities — so there’s a real challenge out there for NBC News.”

Recently, “The Tonight Show” cut 20 to 25 staffers and host Jay Leno took what is being called a “tremendous” pay cut to prevent even more lost jobs. The development is believed to be a result of NBC being acquired by Comcast and execs there demanding that everything at the network be streamlined.

Meanwhile, staffers of TODAY “are extremely nervous that there are going to be lay-offs, and no one believes for one second that Matt will go along with a pay cut. Matt’s contract is iron-clad and he can’t be forced to take a pay cut,” the insider told Radar.

[From Radar Online]

Do you think that Matt will accept a pay cut? Probably not. In his eyes, he’s the entire “Today” show, but he doesn’t realize that he’s the main problem these days. All he wanted was to get rid of Ann, who he saw as dead weight, and the irony is that Ann may not have been perfect for her job, but her departure has resulted in steadily falling ratings. Odd how that works, right?

In the meantime, the Media Decoder blog (of the NYT) has gotten an inside scoop that MSNBC’s Willie Geist will be hosting the 9 a.m. hour of “Today” and filling in for Matt whenever he’s away. Looks like he may be lined up as a future replacement, but I doubt Matt would ever leave. His ego would never let him do so.

Photos courtesy of WENN

We know that Al Roker can’t stand Matt Lauer, because he pretty much said – on air – that Matt threw Ann Curry under the bus by having her fired. Well it turns out that a lot of other people who work at The Today Show also hate Matt Lauer and think he’s dragging the show down. Radar has run several insider stories recently about The Today Show, which has flailed in the ratings and is now being bested by Good Morning America. They claim that some of the producers and most of the staff want “Diva” Matt Lauer gone, because he’s difficult to work with and will stab you in the back. Here’s more:

“Staffers and producers at the TODAY show hold Matt Lauer responsible for the continued decline in the ratings because they hold him responsible for Ann Curry being fired,” a source close to the situation tells Radar. “The staff wants Ann to be brought back and want Matt replaced with Lester Holt, but they know the odds of this happening are slim to none, because executives at the network have no interaction whatsoever with the TODAY show staff.

“Lester, like Ann, is very respected by the staff and is always a true class act. If Lester had been in Matt’s shoes he never would have told the executive producer and honchos at NBC to fire Ann. Lester and Ann report the news, period, and don’t engage in backstabbing antics…

“Matt is absolutely standing by Savannah despite the fact that Good Morning America has routinely been beating the TODAY show in the ratings,” a source previously told Radar. “Matt believes that the audience just needs to get comfortable and familiar with Savannah and viewers will return to the show that had been counted on by the execs at NBC as ratings gold. Matt, Savannah and fellow cast member Natalie Morales are all extremely close and have been referred to as the Three Musketeers. They often go to press movie screenings and can often be found in Matt’s office discussing stories and just goofing off. Matt has a very adoring female fan club in Natalie and Savannah.”

Meanwhile, Good Morning America has beaten TODAY in the first full week after the Olympics, rocking numbers of 4.654 million over TODAY’s 4.399 million, according to ratings released on Thursday.

[From Radar]

So Matt, Savannah and Natalie Morales are thick as thieves and the staff is calling them “the Three Musketeers”? That makes Savannah’s promotion suspect, especially when you consider the rumors that Natalie was/is sleeping with Matt, but that she got passed up for co-anchor because Matt’s wife put her foot down about it.

About two weeks ago, Radar had a similar story about strife on set, with the news that there are longterm producers of the show who want Lauer fired. These are probably some of the same staffers mentioned in the newer article above, and Radar is likely getting this from the same source.

“There are several producers that have been with the TODAY Show for a very long time, over ten years, and Matt Lauer is now hated by them because they feel that he is responsible for Ann Curry’s being fired. Ann was tremendously popular with the producers, cameramen, and other staffers of the show because she truly is a team player. Ann was all about the news, and breaking stories, just a true pro,” a source close to the situation tells us.

“Matt on the other hand has been known to act like a real diva. The staffers are disgruntled because they were looking forward to working with Ann during the Olympics and she ended up relegated to very limited camera time and didn’t even appear until several days before the games ended,” the source says.

[From Radar]

As the article mentions, I doubt that Lauer will get canned anytime soon – he’s been with The Today Show too long. Plus they need continuity after ditching Ann and replacing her with Savannah. I don’t think the problem is Savannah by any means, it just sounds like no one at The Today Show is getting along, and that they’re not producing segments that are entertaining enough to draw ratings. People behind the scenes aren’t motivated to be at the top of their game when upper level management plays favorites and treats people poorly. At least there are still people there who are respected by staff, like Holt and probably Roker.

Meanwhile, remember that poorly-timed interview that Ann Curry gave just prior to the announcement that she was being “reassigned” at NBC or basically phased out, as we’ve come to find out? Ann told Ladies Home Journal that she was criticized by Today producers for not dyeing her hair and for wearing clothes that were too bright and not feminine enough. Well she got a severe talking-to by “several high ranking NBC executives.” Radar’s source claims that “They didn’t rake her over the coals for her comments, but the message was definitely clear… no more negative comments about the network.” Because the network can say whatever it wants about Curry, but she better not defend herself.

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