Katie Couric‘s maternity leave from the Today show didn’t go over well with her cohost Bryant Gumbel, as the journalist said he got upset about the situation.
“He got mad at me because I was doing something on maternity leave and he was giving me endless s–t for taking a month or two off,” Katie, 67, revealed during the Monday, April 15, episode of Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast.
“I was having my first baby, and he was like, ‘Why don’t you just drop it in the field and come back?’ or something like that,” she continued, adding, “He was kidding, but he was goofing on me and giving me a lot of s–t and it was emblematic of a sort of, incredibly sexist attitude.”
Katie gave birth to her first child, daughter Ellie, with late husband Jay Monahan in 1991, the year she became the full-time cohost of Today alongside Bryant, 75, They welcomed a second daughter, Carrie, in 1996, before Jay died from colon cancer in 1998.
Bill, 68, described Bryant as a “guy’s guy” and Katie said that was totally the case before going on to praise his talent.
“He is a guy’s guy, you got that right. He is,” Katie responded, adding, “He was prickly, but I mean, what a talent. He’s such a seamless broadcaster, eloquent. When that countdown would happen, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, he would just hit it perfect.”
Bryant began cohosting Today alongside Jane Pauley in 1982. She departed the show in 1989 and was replaced by the show’s anchor Deborah Norville. Katie joined Today as the news anchor and proved to be a hit with fans, getting the cohost seat in 1991. She and Bryant worked together until 1997, when he departed to work for CBS and was replaced by Matt Lauer, who was the show’s news anchor at the time.
Katie ended up leaving Today in 2006, becoming the first female anchor for CBS Evening News. She left the position in 2011 and went on to try her hand as a daytime talk show host, although her Katie show only lasted two seasons between 2012 and 2014.
The Arlington, Virginia, native became a first-time grandmother in March when Ellie gave birth to baby No. 1 with husband Mark Dobrosky.
She shared a series of Instagram photos showing the newborn, including one of Katie holding the infant in her arms, on March 24.
“John Albert Dobrosky was born on his due date, Saturday, March 23rd at 8:23 am, just shy of seven pounds. He will be called Jay in honor of his maternal grandfather. Albert is after Mark’s paternal grandfather. Mom and Dad (Ellie and Mark) are over the moon (it was a full moon) I am thrilled to have my first grandchild,” she wrote in the caption.
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