'I felt constrained': Kate Couric launches bitter attack at CBS saying former employer 'projected their own issues onto me'

Longtime CBS Evening News anchor spoke out about former employer

Said she felt 'liberated' once she left environment of everyone 'projecting their own issues onto me'



Now at rival network ABC

Katie Couric has launched a bitter attack on her former employers at CBS and claimed that she felt ‘liberated’ after leaving the TV network.

In an interview Couric said that bosses made her five years working for the company a misery because they were ‘projecting their own issues onto me’.

She said that anchoring CBS Evening News left her feel ‘constrained’ and that only by biting her her tongue and just getting on with it could she deal with the poisonous atmosphere.

Projecting: In an interview, Couric said that bosses made her five years working for the company a misery because they were 'projecting their own issues onto me'

Couric’s comments are a rare glance behind her steely and well maintained public image and give a revealing insight into how angry she feels at her treatment.

She is also the second prominent female TV personality to speak out after former Today show anchor Ann Curry claimed NBC fired her because of her bad fashion sense.

Couric - who has now moved to rival broadcaster ABC - left CBS last year having hosted its Evening News and hosted current affairs programme 60 Minutes since 2006.

She was the first woman to anchor a network TV news show in America having taken over from Bob Schieffer.

But after poor ratings - the show remained in third place behind evening news programmes on NBC and ABC - meant that behind the scenes there was on-going turmoil that left her feeling unwelcome.

Even her controversial $15m a year salary which was blamed for forcing out a slew of CBS workers did not mollify the abuse.

Hard work: Couric, pictured in 2010, spent five years as the CBS Evening News Anchor and Managing Editor

Light reading: Couric posted this picture of her reading her cover story on Instigram

September issue: The interview appears in the September 2012 issue of Good Housekeeping

Speakin g to Good Housekeeping for t heir September issue, Couric said that since leaving she has been far more relaxed and that not having to put on makeup every day is a ‘Godsend’.

She has also been using the time to ‘recalibrate’ and ‘re-evaluate’ her life and find more of a balance from her ‘overscheduled’ days.

But turning to her former bosses at CBS, she said: ‘I’m really proud of the work I did. I had an ultimate sense of satisfaction but I was not ambivalent about feeling this wasn’t the place for me for the rest of my career.

‘It wasn’t the right environment for me. In terms of the atmosphere, it wasn’t a good fit for my sensibilities and my personality.

'I'm not a quitter. There were times when I thought to myself, Gee do I need this?

‘But I thought, you know what? I can do this job as well as anyone.

‘If people are projecting their own issues onto me, that's not my problem. I resolved to do the best job I could and focus on the business at hand'.

CBS Evening News under Couric was critically acclaimed and won a string of awards including four Emmys, two Edward R Murrow Awards for Best Newscast, the George Polk Award and the Walter Cronkite Award.

Anchoring: The newscaster also anchored NBC's Today Show

In particular her interview in 2008 with Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin became an instant classic when the Alaska governor made a series of embarrassing gaffes.

Same story: Couric's problems mirror those of Curry, 55, who was replaced by Savannah Guthrie, 40, after just one year as co-anchor on Today

She also asked New York Yankees baseball icon Alex Rodriguez if he had even taken steroids which he denied, though later admitted he had in fact done so.

Couric, 55, is able to criticise CBS because she has now moved to ABC, which is reportedly paying her $40m a year.

She is a special correspondent for network and filled in for Robin Roberts on Good Morning America when she was on holiday, helping it to beat Today in the ratings for the first time in 16 years.

The mother of two is also set to host her own daytime talk show on ABC, called ‘Katie’, which will start later this year.

Couric’s problems mirror those of Curry, 55, who was replaced by Savannah Guthrie, 40, after just one year as co-anchor on Today.

In an interview with Ladies Home Journal the former foreign correspondent, who is remaining with NBC and making a return to hard news, claimed that she was fired because executives did not like her fashion sense.

She said: ‘One day I wore a multi-coloured dress and someone asked if I was trying to be Toucan Sam.

‘But I chose it because I thought, this will perk up America.

‘I’m encouraged by my bosses to wear these ridiculously high heel shoes because women say: ‘I love your shoes!’ So if it makes women happy, I’ll wear them. But I’m still going to be me’.