Katie Couric Reveals Bombshells About Matt Lauer, Prince Harry and More in New Book ‘Going There’

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Katie Couric Reveals Bombshells About Matt Lauer, Prince Harry and More in New Book ‘Going There’

Her turn to talk! Katie Couric revealed new details about her years in the spotlight and her varied interactions with celebrities in her new book, Going There. The journalist, 64, delved into a slew of topics in the memoir, which was released on Tuesday, October 26. From her former Today colleague Matt Lauer’s sexual misconduct scandal to her controversial 2016 interview with the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Couric did not hold back. Television “made my dreams come true,” the broadcaster wrote in the book’s prologue. “But it is not the whole story, and it is not the whole me. The book is.” The author addressed the allegations that led to her former Today cohost Lauer, 63, being fired from the morning show in November 2017. A female colleague accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior while NBC was covering the Winter Olympics in Russia three years earlier, and in October 2019, she claimed that he had raped her, which he repeatedly denied. “We have no relationship,” Couric said of Lauer during an October 19 appearance on Today, noting that the ordeal was “really, really hard and it took me a long time to process what was going on.” [jwplayer kieRpZ5L-zhNYySv2] The Virginia native detailed the aftermath in her memoir by publishing text messages she and Lauer exchanged. “I think I used those because I thought they were very illustrative of how our relationship devolved and ultimately deteriorated,” she shared with Today. “I thought that was a powerful way to … really let the reader into my thought process and as I got more and more information, how it was harder and harder for me to reconcile these two sides [of him].” Couric did her own research on the allegations amid the fallout. “The side of Matt I knew was the side of Matt I think you all knew. He was kind, generous, considerate, a good colleague,” she recalled. “As I got more information and learned more about what was going on behind the scenes. And then I did some of my own reporting, talked to people, tried to excavate what had been going on. It was really devastating and also disgusting.” She added: “I think what I realized is that there was a side of Matt I never really knew. I tried to understand why he behaved the way he did, and why he was so reckless, and callous, and honestly abusive to other women.” Couric also covered her personal life in the memoir. She married her first husband, Jay Monahan, in January 1989. They welcomed daughters Ellie and Carrie in July 1991 and January 1996, respectively. The attorney died of colorectal cancer in January 1998 at age 42. She later tied the knot with financier John Molner in June 2014. Going There is out now. Scroll through the gallery below to read revelations from Couric’s book. [podcast_block]

Credit: Shutterstock (3)

Katie Couric Reveals Bombshells About Matt Lauer, Prince Harry and More in New Book ‘Going There’

Her turn to talk! Katie Couric revealed new details about her years in the spotlight and her varied interactions with celebrities in her new book, Going There. The journalist, 64, delved into a slew of topics in the memoir, which was released on Tuesday, October 26. From her former Today colleague Matt Lauer’s sexual misconduct scandal to her controversial 2016 interview with the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Couric did not hold back. Television “made my dreams come true,” the broadcaster wrote in the book’s prologue. “But it is not the whole story, and it is not the whole me. The book is.” The author addressed the allegations that led to her former Today cohost Lauer, 63, being fired from the morning show in November 2017. A female colleague accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior while NBC was covering the Winter Olympics in Russia three years earlier, and in October 2019, she claimed that he had raped her, which he repeatedly denied. “We have no relationship,” Couric said of Lauer during an October 19 appearance on Today, noting that the ordeal was “really, really hard and it took me a long time to process what was going on.” [jwplayer kieRpZ5L-zhNYySv2] The Virginia native detailed the aftermath in her memoir by publishing text messages she and Lauer exchanged. “I think I used those because I thought they were very illustrative of how our relationship devolved and ultimately deteriorated,” she shared with Today. “I thought that was a powerful way to … really let the reader into my thought process and as I got more and more information, how it was harder and harder for me to reconcile these two sides [of him].” Couric did her own research on the allegations amid the fallout. “The side of Matt I knew was the side of Matt I think you all knew. He was kind, generous, considerate, a good colleague,” she recalled. “As I got more information and learned more about what was going on behind the scenes. And then I did some of my own reporting, talked to people, tried to excavate what had been going on. It was really devastating and also disgusting.” She added: “I think what I realized is that there was a side of Matt I never really knew. I tried to understand why he behaved the way he did, and why he was so reckless, and callous, and honestly abusive to other women.” Couric also covered her personal life in the memoir. She married her first husband, Jay Monahan, in January 1989. They welcomed daughters Ellie and Carrie in July 1991 and January 1996, respectively. The attorney died of colorectal cancer in January 1998 at age 42. She later tied the knot with financier John Molner in June 2014. Going There is out now. Scroll through the gallery below to read revelations from Couric’s book. [podcast_block]

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She Suffered From an Eating Disorder

Couric admitted that she had an eating disorder as a teen and a young adult. “Starve, cheat, binge, purge — the cycle would take years to break,” she wrote, linking the issue to her mother’s unhealthy relationship with food. 

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Fame Affected Her 1st Marriage

The Katie Couric Media founder became a permanent coanchor on Today in 1991, but the fame that came with the gig “took up residence in [her] marriage [to Monahan] like an overbearing houseguest.” She added: “The bigger I got — the more I was photographed and splashed across magazine covers and gossiped about — the smaller he felt.” 

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Her Date With Larry King

Couric alleged that King made a “lunge” for her during a date that took place in her late 20s. “The tongue. The hands,” she claimed. “The whole scene was such a cliché, I began to laugh and gently pushed him away.”  

She alleged that when she told the talk show host — who died of sepsis in January at age 87 — that she was interested in pursuing someone closer to her age, he replied, “No problem. But when I like, I really like.” She “wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or a warning,” she wrote, but the alleged interaction “gave us a big laugh” whenever they saw each other in the years that followed.  

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The Matt Lauer Scandal

Couric admitted that she was aware of rumors about Lauer’s behavior but did not realize his alleged status as a “player” trickled into the workplace. “The general attitude at the time was it’s none of your business,” she recounted. “A don’t-ask-don’t-tell culture where anything goes, and everything did. Assuming Matt was having a consensual fling, I didn’t even consider talking to the young employee about it and embarrassing her.”  

The former coworkers had dinner together in November 2017, shortly before the allegations about him surfaced. Lauer allegedly told Couric that the #MeToo movement was “getting kind of out of control.” They exchanged joking messages after the outing. “Omg what the hell did you put in my drink? Phenobarbital???? Thank you for being such a good friend. I treasure you,” she wrote, to which he responded, “The length of our friendship and the comfort that comes with that is more powerful than any drug in a drink!”  

Couric wondered if Lauer had “been fearful that the #MeToo movement was coming for him next,” and she even sent support to him privately after his firing. Their relationship deteriorated after the scandal, though.  

“I know Matt thinks I betrayed him, and that makes me sad,” she wrote. “But he betrayed me too by how he behaved behind closed doors at the show we both cared about so much.”  

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The Louis C.K. Request

The comedian, 54, allegedly asked Couric to make a cameo on his sitcom, Louie. “In the scene he pitched, I’m on TV, reading the news, while Louie watches,” she claimed. “And suddenly I break from the broadcast to speak to him directly: ‘Louie, just do it. You know you’re gonna do it. So just take off your pants and get started.’”   

C.K. previously admitted to masturbating in front of women after The New York Times published their allegations in November 2017.  

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Her RBG Interview

Couric claimed that Ginsburg — who died in September 2020 at age 87 after battling pancreatic cancer — made controversial comments about NFL players who kneeled during the national anthem in a 2016 interview for Yahoo. The late Supreme Court Justice apparently said the protest demonstrated “contempt for a government that has made it possible for their parents and grandparents to live a decent life.”  

The reporter axed the quote from her piece — although she included some of Ginsburg’s criticism — because she did not want it to affect the reputation of someone of whom she was a “fan.” She now sees it as a failure to keep her personal feelings and politics “in check” while at work.  

“I lost a lot of sleep over that one and still wrestle with the decision I made,” she confessed. 

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Meeting Prince Harry

Couric wrote that she met the royal, 37, at a polo match in Brazil during his “wild-oats sowing phase,” claiming that the smell of alcohol and cigarettes seemed to “ooze from every pore” of his body. 

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The Example Deborah Norville Set

The former 60 Minutes correspondent wrote that her Today colleague had a “relentless perfection” that alienated viewers. (Norville told the New York Post earlier this month that she was “really too stunned and, frankly, hurt to comment” on the claim.) However, Couric also referred to the Inside Edition anchor, 63, as “whip-smart” and “incredibly hard-working.” 

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The Martha Stewart Diss

Couric wrote that it took Stewart, 80, “a few years and some healthy humbling (prison will do that) to develop a sense of humor.” The lifestyle guru served five months behind bars and five months in home confinement after being found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding and making false statements to federal investigators in March 2004.  

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Making Her Own Way

The former Katie host earned $15 million a year as the anchor of CBS Evening News after leaving Today, but she allegedly received a “chilly reception” at 60 Minutes, where she worked as a correspondent. After ratings faltered at CBS Evening News, she claimed that chief executive Les Moonves suggested she move to the network’s morning show. “I didn’t leave the morning show I helped make No. 1 so I could go to the third-place morning show,” she retorted.  

If you or anyone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more. 

If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, contact the National Eating Disorders Association at 1-800-931-2237.