Katie Couric says she no longer speaks to Matt Lauer: "It took me a very, very long time to kind of come to terms with" his sexual misconduct

People

Couric tells People it took a "very long time" to process the allegations that her longtime Today colleague was a serial sexual harasser. "It took me a very, very long time to kind of come to terms with it," she says. "Also, to appreciate the damage that was done to women who were taken advantage by many powerful men." In her new memoir Going There, Couric writes: "I've come to realize that Matt could be an excellent professional partner, and a good friend, and a predator." In her People interview, Couric calls Lauer's behavior "grossly inappropriate" and "callous": "There's a duality in human beings, and sometimes they don't let you see both sides," says Couric. Couric says she didn't notice anything alarming about Lauer's interactions with other women in their almost two decades working together. "He might comment on a movie star or something, saying, like, 'Oof, she's unbelievable,'" says Couric. "He was admiring of beautiful women. But I never felt he was pervy or inappropriate in my presence, ever." Couric adds that she knew Lauer was a "player," but that they didn't discuss "intimate" details of their personal lives. "I think we have all these euphemisms that we used to use for bad behavior — and player was one of them," she says. "He was a flirt. Certainly I read that he was unhappy in his marriage. But, honestly, I never had that discussion with him." She adds: "I think it's hard for people to understand that we didn't share intimate parts of our lives with each other. I could count on one hand the times that I talked to him as I would a confidant or a really close friend." ALSO: Couric reveals she edited Ruth Bader Ginsburg's comments about NFL players taking a knee to "protect" the Supreme Court justice.