It’s been a busy Wedneday morning over at NBC News, with a report circulating that ousted “Today” show GM Jamie Horowitz tried to ax the entire morning show’s anchor team–and that Willie Geist and Natalie Morales had been fired.
Now, the network is firing back, issuing a statement that claims Us Weekly’s doesn’t know what they’re talking about. NBC News President Deborah Turness provided TheWrap the following:
“NBC’s TODAY has the best anchor team in morning television. The entire TODAY show anchor team — Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, Willie Geist, Carson Daly, Tamron Hall, Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb — are incredibly talented, valued and have our support. In response to the false rumors that have been circulated about our anchor team, NBC wants to be absolutely clear: The rumors are wrong — period. This is the team we are committed to. And this is the team that our viewers turn to in the morning.”
In Us Weekly’s story, the magazine reports as an “exclusive” that Natalie Morales and Willie Geist have been fired from the show, Morales was speaking with ABC, and Geist had already lined up a job with CBS. TheWrap confirmed with a CBS spokesperson Geist has not been hired. Insiders also told us Morales has been speaking to various networks, particularly CNN.
The report of Geist and Morales’ firing seems at odd with my television this morning. Both were on the “Today” show; Morales from 7am-9amET; Geist from 9am-10amET.
A spokesperson for Us Weekly has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.