Being promoted to coanchor of Right this moment was a bittersweet achievement for Savannah Guthrie, who took over the position after Ann Curry exited the present.
“I got here at a time of lots of controversy for the present, and it wasn’t, I don’t suppose, a contented event, actually — for anybody, together with me,” Guthrie, 53, shared in an interview with Parade revealed on Friday, January 17. “I used to be as terrified as I may probably be as a result of the bosses on the time had decided, and I fairly actually was the final to know, and I used to be so afraid, and I used to be fairly certain that I wouldn’t final.”
Guthrie first joined Right this moment in 2011 as a chief authorized correspondent and served because the anchor of the present’s 9 a.m. hour. That very same yr, Curry took over from Meredith Vieira as Matt Lauer’s Right this moment coanchor. She departed the present only one yr later amid rumors that NBC believed her and Lauer’s alleged lack of chemistry led to low scores. (A supply claimed to Us Weekly in July 2012 that Lauer, 67, additionally performed a component in Curry’s exit.)
Guthrie was introduced as Curry’s substitute in June 2012. On the time, Right this moment.com reported that scores had been the principle purpose behind the internet hosting lineup change.
Whereas Guthrie was joyful to tackle the coveted gig, she advised Parade that she was “in tears” when she was supplied the job. “And it wasn’t as a result of I didn’t dream of this job like everybody else does. It was as a result of I used to be certain that it wouldn’t final and that I’d be thrown by the wayside inside just a few weeks or months.”
Now, Guthrie advised the outlet she’s “so joyful that survived and I’m nonetheless right here.” Her present cohost, Craig Melvin, chimed in by stating she “thrived, not survived.”
On the time of her Right this moment exit, Curry advised viewers on air, “This isn’t as I anticipated to ever go away this sofa after 15 years, however I’m so grateful.” She tearfully added, “And for all of you who noticed me as a groundbreaker, I’m sorry I couldn’t carry the ball over the end line. However man, I did strive.”
Curry later introduced she was parting methods with NBC Information in January 2015. “That is about reaching for the sting of the long run in journalism, which we all know is present process an irrevocable transition,” she mentioned in a press launch. “I’m enthusiastic about working to turn out to be a invaluable hyperlink between conventional media and what’s to return.”
Hoda Kotb went on to exchange Lauer in 2018 after he was let go from the present following a sexual misconduct scandal. She bid farewell to Right this moment after almost 30 years working for NBC on January 10. Melvin assumed his position as Guthrie’s coanchor on Monday, January 13.
Curry opened up about her Right this moment exit in a September 2020 interview with Elle, admitting she nonetheless didn’t “actually perceive” why she was let go. “I do know I did nothing incorrect. I do know I used to be good at my job,” she acknowledged. “They are saying the place there’s smoke, there’s fireplace. You possibly can learn the tea leaves. However , I’m a fact-based reporter, so it’s onerous for me to go on the market, with one thing so near the vest. I don’t know. I don’t know.”
Noting that the exit “nonetheless hurts,” she continued: “It actually hurts actually deeply, as a result of I actually suppose I did nothing incorrect. However despite the ache of it, which nonetheless lingers, I do know that I contributed to some individuals struggling much less.”