Matt Lauer’s jealousy of up-and-coming male rivals at NBC has left the network without a viable replacement to fill his spot on the Today show, according to a report on Monday.
The Peacock Network is desperately scrambling to find a suitable stand-in for Lauer – even though he personally made sure there would be no heir apparent, according to Page Six.
Lauer was fired last week after more than 20 years as co-host of NBC’s flagship morning program after a female colleague came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct.
Since his firing at least seven other women have accused Lauer of similar behavior.
Page Six quoted ‘industry insiders’ as saying that during Lauer’s tenure at 30 Rock, he made sure to use his power to snuff out any internal threat to his perch.
Matt Lauer’s jealousy of up-and-coming male rivals at NBC has left the network without a viable replacement to fill his spot on the Today show, according to a report on Monday. Lauer is seen above on November 1, 2017 in the Today show studio
The Peacock Network is desperately scrambling to find a suitable replacement for Lauer – even though he personally made sure there would be no heir apparent, according to Page Six. Lauer is seen above with co-host Savannah Guthrie
‘Matt killed off, in their infancy, every man who could succeed him at the time that he was ready to hang it up — so there’s nobody to take his place. And now NBC is paying the price,’ a source told Page Six.
Among possible successors whose paths to the top were supposedly short-circuited by Lauer were former Meet the Press anchor David Gregory; former sportscaster Josh Elliott; and Billy Bush.
Bush last year was fired from NBC, where he co-anchored the third hour of Today, after the infamous Access Hollywood tape of his 2005 interview with Donald Trump surfaced.
Trump is heard on the audio making explicit remarks about grabbing women.
Among possible successors whose paths to the top were supposedly short-circuited by Lauer were former Meet the Press anchor David Gregory (seen above in 2012)
Billy Bush (left), who once co-hosted the third hour of the Today show, and sportscaster Josh Elliott (right), were also once thought to be potential successors to Lauer
According to Page Six, Lauer was wary of Bush well before the Access Hollywood tape was revealed.
With the dearth of successors, the current front-runner to take over for Lauer is Craig Melvin, according to Page Six.
Melvin is host of Weekend Today. He also frequently appears as anchor on MSNBC.
‘I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup,’ a television executive told Page Six.
With the dearth of successors, the current front-runner to take over for Lauer is Craig Melvin (left), according to Page Six. Megyn Kelly, who currently hosts Megyn Kelly Today, is not considered a ‘viable savior’
Lauer’s departure fuelled speculation that NBC would turn to its other big-ticket megastar, the recently-arrived Megyn Kelly.
But Page Six says that the poor ratings for Kelly’s show, Megyn Kelly Today, means that the network doesn’t view her as a ‘viable savior.’
Besides, network sources told Page Six that Kelly has no interest in Lauer’s job.
NBC hired Kelly away from her previous television home, the Fox News Channel. She is reportedly earning a salary of $23million per year.
Hoda Kotb will continue to fill in for Lauer ‘in the short term,’ according to Page Six.