Matt Lauer amassed a lot of power on Today — perhaps too much power

TIME

NBC's Today, says Daniel D’Addario, “wasn’t quite The Matt Lauer Show, but that may have, at times, just been semantic: Lauer got many of the big interviews and his particular wry yet knife-twisting style of interviewing defined the show’s voice.” Now in wake of his firing over an allegation of sexual harassment, his past comes back for re-evaluation, especially the circumstances surrounding Ann Curry’s exit. “Lauer will eventually be replaced—notably, his substitute on the first morning after his firing was Hoda Kotb,” says D’Addario. “But it’s hard to imagine whomever comes in after him amassing quite as much fame or as much seeming ability to question along whatever lines he sees fit—lines that are, now, well worth re-examining critically and carefully. Lauer was on his way to becoming a TV legend; instead, now, he’s just another name on a long list.”

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