It’s been more than 14 months since Ann Curry’s unceremonious exit from NBC’s Today, and now Matt Lauer is lashing out at the way the situation was handled in the media. The morning show’s longtime anchor hurls some verbal salvos in a new magazine interview. “The way the media treated what happened with Ann Curry was a disappointing learning experience,” he told Esquire. “I was disappointed by the laziness of the media, the willingness to read a rumor, repeat that rumor, and treat it as a fact.” Even though the show’s then-EP Jim Bell defended Curry’s ouster, several outlets cited Lauer as the heavy. And the show’s continued ratings slide even led to NBC brass reaching out to CNN’s Anderson Cooper to replace him during the summer. That came weeks after Lauer reportedly offered to resign amid the Curry fallout. But back to the 16-year Today host’s latest words: “What were my options?” he said about the media coverage. “Does anyone want to see a person who’s making the money that the newspapers say I’m making complaining, ‘Woe is me, my life is terrible, and people are being unfair’? No one would’ve had any patience for that. I wouldn’t have any patience for that. So you just shut up and go about doing your job.”

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