Katie Couric shared her own #MeToo moments at Procter and Gamble’s Cincinnati headquarters on Thursday, March 1.
During a forum about the state of women in the workplace, Couric, 61, recalled facing sexism and “gross” comments, the Associated Press reported Friday. Examples included having her wardrobe critiqued publicly when she began hosting CBS Evening News in 2006, and a meeting at CNN where an executive said to her and others: “She’s successful because of her hard work, intelligence and breast size.”
Rather than let the comment roll her back, Couric revealed she wrote to the unnamed executive and he called her, “dripping with apologies.”
The former Today host, who is often described as “cute” and “perky,” told the audience she finds the descriptions “marginalizing.”
“I’ve been very fortunate in terms of not being subjected to a lot of sexual misconduct, but certainly I have been subjected to widely held attitudes about women, about compartmentalizing women,” Couric revealed.
At the forum, Couric was asked about her former Today coanchor Matt Lauer, who was terminated from NBC on November 29 after a colleague accused him of sexual misconduct in the workplace. Per the AP, Couric responded that she had been unaware of the misconduct allegations.
Couric and Lauer cohosted the show for 15 years until he left in 2006.
Lauer previously told Us Weekly in a statement: “Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized. But there is is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly.”
