Ann Curry is 'still processing' Matt Lauer firing news: 'We need to make our workplaces safe'

Ann Curry, the former Today show co-anchor who worked alongside Matt Lauer for more than a decade, is speaking out following the shocking news that Lauer was fired Tuesday evening for allegedly inappropriate sexual behavior.

In a previously scheduled interview with People to discuss her upcoming return to television with the PBS docuseries We’ll Meet Again, airing in early 2018, Curry declined to comment specifically about Lauer’s sudden termination, noting, “I’m still really processing it.” However, she did share her thoughts on what this latest bombshell signifies to her.

“The women’s movement got us into the workplace, but it didn’t make us safe once we got there,” Curry told People. “And the battle lines are now clear. We need to move this revolution forward and make our workplaces safe. Corporate America is quite clearly failing to do so, and unless it does something to change that, we need to keep doing more ourselves.”

Curry substituted for Lauer before officially becoming Today‘s news anchor in 1997. In 2011, Curry was named co-anchor of the venerated morning show; a little more than one year later, she was fired from the role. Her emotional final episode of Today, in which she tearfully thanked viewers, was viewed by millions.

Today, Curry is focused on her role executive-producing and directing We’ll Meet Again, which reunites people who have lived through traumatic moments with the person who helped them the most. Having gone through her own professional trauma, Curry says her heart goes out to the women who have come forward to speak out against sexual misconduct in any form.

“I admire the women who have been willing to speak up both anonymously and on the record. Those women need to keep their jobs, and all women need to be able to work, to be able to thrive, without fear. This kind of behavior exists across industries, and it is so long overdue for it to stop,” she says. “This is a moment when we all need to be a beacon of light for those women, for all women, and for ourselves.”