Katie Couric Leaves It All On The Table With Shocking Stories About A-Listers And Her Career In Her New Book, "Going There"
From dissing Martha Stewart to revealing industry secrets, veteran TV journalist Katie Couric is really laying it all out there in her upcoming memoir, Going There.
The book, which comes out on Oct. 26, has become a hot topic after some of Couric's surprisingly bold and candid passages leaked. Here are some of the wildest bombshells, according to The Daily Mail, who obtained a copy of the manuscript:
Content warning: This post contains mentions of sexual assault and eating disorders.
1.Couric struggled with an eating disorder throughout her teenage years and early adulthood.
“Starve, cheat, binge, purge — the cycle would take years to break,” she wrote.
2.At the start of her career, Couric tried to go by "Katherine" on screen to "lend an air of authority [her] face and voice lacked.”
"Katie" ended up sticking once she started at the Today show because it was more relatable to the audience.
3.Much of Couric's family "was blighted with racists."
Her grandmother gave Couric's father a first edition copy of The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan that was inscribed with this sentiment: "This is such a valuable and beautiful book. Never destroy it." Couric's first husband, Jay Monahan, was also passionate about Confederacy reenactment.
4.In 1983, a CNN executive announced at a meeting that Couric was successful “because of her determination, hard work, intelligence, and breast size.”
5.Couric didn't initially realize the extent to which her former cohost, Matt Lauer, committed sexual misconduct at work, and she brushed off stories about it until he was called out during the #MeToo movement. She says she doubts she will ever speak with him again.
"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."
6.Couric edited an interview with Ruth Bader Ginsburg to leave out negative comments she made about NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem.
In a Yahoo News article, Couric quoted Ginsburg calling the protests "dumb and disrespectful." However, in order to protect the late justice's reputation, she left out more controversial statements, like when RBG called the kneeling, “Contempt for a government that has made it possible for their parents and grandparents to live a decent life.”
Today, Couric says she probably should have included the full quote, although Ginsburg ultimately had to acknowledge her comments that Couric did include, calling them "harsh and dismissive."
7.Because it's much harder for women to rise up in her field than men, Couric felt threatened by, and was regretfully "way less welcoming" to, up-and-coming journalist Ashleigh Banfield.
"In that environment, mentorship sometimes feels like self sabotage," she wrote.
8.When Couric switched from Today to CBS Evening News, her new colleagues gave her a "chilly reception."
She added that Les Moonves suggested she move to CBS's morning show since her new appearance on the evening broadcast wasn't yielding higher ratings. Couric said she told him, "I didn’t leave the morning show I helped make number one so I could go to the third-place morning show."
9.Couric called ex-CBS executive Les Moonves (who was ousted after accusations of alleged sexual misconduct came to light) "a close-talker with bad breath."
10.She dished out some juicy details, put-downs, and descriptions of A-listers like Martha Stewart, of whom she writes it took her “a few years and some healthy humbling (prison will do that) to develop a sense of humor.”
11.Couric said when she met Prince Harry, the smell of cigarettes and alcohol seemed to “ooze from every pore."
12.She called her ex-boyfriend — TV producer Tom Werner — a "textbook narcissist."
13.Louis C.K. asked Couric to act in a scene of his sitcom, Louie, that was reminiscent of his alleged real-life inappropriate behaviors with two female comedians.
“In the scene he pitched, I’m on TV, reading the news, while Louie watches. 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.’”
14.And Larry King allegedly "lunged" at twentysomething-year-old Couric on a date.
Couric "began to laugh and gently pushed him away" and told King she was looking for someone more her age.