Katie Couric Says Bryant Gumbel Had ‘Incredibly Sexist Attitude’ While Co-Hosting ‘Today’ Show
Veteran journalist Katie Couric has been opening up about her career, especially her time working with Bryant Gumbel as co-host of NBC’s Today show in the 1990s.
Speaking on Sunday’s episode (April 14) of Bill Maher‘s Club Random podcast, Couric recalled Gumbel’s “incredibly sexist attitude” regarding her maternity leave from the long-running morning show in 1991.
“He got mad at me because I was doing something on maternity leave,” Couric told Maher, per Deadline. “And he was giving me endless s*** for taking like a month or two off. I was having my first baby.”
She continued, “He was like, ‘Why don’t you just drop it in the field and come back to work right away or something?’ It was really…”
The former 60 Minutes correspondent noted that Gumbel was kidding but that his jokes represented a wider issue of the culture.
“No, he was kidding,” she shared. “He was goofing on me but giving me a lot of s***, but it was emblematic of an incredibly sexist attitude.”
Today Show/Everett Collection
“He is a guy’s guy,” Couric added before going on to compliment Gumbel’s skills as an anchor. “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.”
Couric and Gumbel were the faces of the Today show between 1991 and 1997, when the latter made the jump from NBC to CBS. Couric remained with the program until 2006, co-hosting alongside Matt Lauer.
This isn’t the first time Couric has addressed her experiences with Gumbel. In 2019, the Television Hall of Fame inductee wrote about an “uncomfortable exchange” in her Wake-Up Call newsletter.
The incident happened on Couric’s last day of work before taking maternity leave, when, on-air, Gumbel asked her why she was taking “so long” off work.
“Let’s just say, Bryant Gumbel didn’t quite get it,” Couric wrote. “It’s pretty shocking to watch it now, 28 years later!”
At the time, Couric was expecting to give birth to her first daughter, Elinor Couric, and said she would be away from the show for nine weeks. Ultimately, she was only gone for four weeks.
“It’s a major shock to your body, I hope you realize, when you have a baby,” Couric told Gumbel during the show, per USA Today. “And it takes a while to get back to normal and get on a schedule.”
“Our ancestors didn’t worry about that shock to your body. They came right back and worked,” Gumbel replied.
“And they died when they were, like, 32 years old,” Couric retorted.
“You’re 34 − what are you worried about?” he responded, adding, “How many men get nine weeks off?”
Couric replied, “Do we have to do this in, like, a sexist debate?” and asked him to “be nice to me” on her last day.
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