Katie Couric accused an executive at CNN of telling her she was only successful because of the size of her breasts early on in her career. She is pictured at the Pre-Grammy Gala in January
Katie Couric accused an executive at CNN of telling her she was only successful because of the size of her breasts early on in her career.
The veteran television journalist was speaking at Proctor & Gamble’s Cincinnati headquarters in a forum on the state of women in the workplace when she recalled the encounter she says happened in her first few years working in news.
Couric said an executive at the network said of her to others around the table: ‘She’s successful because of her hard work, intelligence and breast size.’
She did not name the executive, but called encounter ‘jarring.’
And though she was shocked in the moment and did not confront the man, she said later with support from her supervisor, a male anchor, she wrote to the executive and he soon called her, ‘dripping with apologies.’
Couric said an executive at the network said of her to others around the table: ‘She’s successful because of her hard work, intelligence and breast size’. She is pictured left in 2018 and right in 1997
Couric was one of the speakers at the #WeSeeEqual forum, which took place Thursday amid a wave of sexual misconduct claims against prominent figures in entertainment, politics and the media – including her former NBC ‘Today Show’ co-host, Matt Lauer.
She said throughout her entire career she has faced demeaning descriptions and ‘gross comments’ from network executives, superiors and co-workers.
‘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 said when asked about career obstacles by Carolyn Tastad, president of P&G’s North America business group, in the forum’s keynote discussion.
Couric cited the frequent descriptions of her as ‘cute’ and ‘perky,’ which she found ‘marginalizing.’
The 61-year-old joked that on her tombstone, it will say ‘Perky No More.’
Couric was one of the speakers at the #WeSeeEqual forum, which took place Thursday amid a wave of sexual misconduct claims against prominent figures in entertainment, politics and the media – including her former NBC ‘Today Show’ co-host, Matt Lauer. She and Lauer are pictured together in 2015
She also recalled public critiques of her clothing when she began hosting ‘CBS Evening News.’
Couric described the #MeToo movement as like ‘a long-dormant volcano that’s erupting’ and said it’s important for men to be part of open discussions on gender issues, on how to make things better.
But she said she thinks it ‘just feels almost too red-hot’ for some to have such discussions publicly yet.
Couric has said she had been unaware of the misconduct allegations leading to Lauer’s ousting last year.