Blind Item: NBC Wants To Get Rid Of Matt Lauer Due To Bad Publicity & Ratings Of Today Show.
Blame and Bullshit and Bus and Bullet and Bucks and Baloney
[Blind Gossip] This TV Star used to think that he was oh-so-critical to the success of this TV show. They couldn’t possibly succeed without him!
He demanded top dollar, slept with practically every female who wanted to be part of the show, and flexed his power by telling producers to fire anyone who he didn’t think was up to his standards.
When people started blaming him for the bad decisions that led to his show’s decline, he initially asked producers to lie and say that was not been responsible for the changes. In fact, tell everyone that he fought against them! Yes… that’s it… that’s the story! He really wanted his colleague to stay! And he even offered to step down to make that possible! He is a hero, not the villain! And…and…and…
Oh, please! According to staff at the show, this entire story is pure bullsh*t. They were trying to save their star, they couldn’t, and now the whole thing is such a mess, they only have one option left: They are going to throw TV Star himself under the bus!
Yes, karma has come full circle, and he is getting the boot. Although he does have a contract that runs through next year, producers are now getting their ducks in a row to push him out. They will be offering him money to walk away before his contract expires. While the buyout will be very expensive, it would be even more expensive to let him stay and watch ratings continue to decline. So they are going to bite the bullet, and pay him the big bucks to go away sooner rather than later. They don’t have a story yet to go with his departure (Illness? Family? Other opportunities?), but we’re sure they will come up with some baloney excuse.
Oh… one final thing. He doesn’t know that this is happening yet. They will be meeting with him tomorrow. Yes, you know before he does.
TV Show: Today Show
TV Guy: Matt Lauer
First Clue: The Daily Beast published a very sympathetic PR fluff piece to spin that Matt Lauer wasn’t to blame for NBC firing Ann Curry. However, it is easy to discern the article is clearly just trying to make Lauer not look like the bad guy.
Second Clue: Matt Lauer is paid $20 million dollars per year.
Third Clue: Al Roker made the reference about “throwing under the bus” after Ann Curry was fired from the Today Show.
National Enquirer Article: Sleazy Matt Lauer Gets Ann Curry Fired & Could Have A Love Child With His Mistress!!!
The rumors that just won’t go away –MATT LAUER is caught up in an incredible shocking love child scandal!
On the heels of the “Today” host signing a fabulous $25 million-a-year contract with NBC, insiders at competing networks ignited nasty and unbelievable rumors that the 54-year-old married newsman fathered a child with his news anchor Natalie Morales.
“I heard that Matt had an extramarital affair with gorgeous Natalie, and he’s the father of one of her kids,” a rival network insider told The ENQUIRER. “Everyone’s buzzing that the boy looks just like him.”
Another industry source said: “The Matt Lauer love child scandal is the worst kept secret among the network morning shows.
“Everyone’s talking about it – even at NBC. He’s trying to get Ann Curry dumped as his co-anchor, and those loyal to her are also talking it up.
“Matt has enemies inside and outside the show’s Studio 1A, and if he’s got this giant skeleton in his closet, there are many who want to see it come out.”
These incredible rumors about Matt are swirling just as the morning show wars have heated up to a fever pitch. “Today’s” lost its lead over ABC’s “Good Morning America”, and CBS has relaunched its morning show with Gayle King as co-host, to stellar reviews.
But affable Matt is still keeping the “Today” show on top, while his enemies are busy trying to sink him with crazy stories.
The ENQUIRER discovered they have plenty of ammunition.
We revealed that Matt’s roller-coaster marriage suffered a near-fatal blow in 2006 when his wife Annette – pregnant with the couple’s third child – filed for divorce before withdrawing the legal papers a month later.
The divorce filing came while the unbelievable rumors were surfacing that Matt had gotten involved with Morales during the “Today” show’s coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
“They got very close and became extremely fond of one another,” a source told The ENQUIRER. “They saw each other when they returned to the U.S.”
Two years later, the rumors again began flying when Morales announced she was 12 weeks pregnant by husband Joe Rhodes.
“There was unbelievable talk that Matt could be the father of her baby!” revealed another show source.
Incredibly, when we gave Rhodes the opportunity to shoot down allegations that his wife was involved with Matt, he did not deny them to The ENQUIRER.
And Annette’s fears about Matt’s roving eye are well-grounded. Sources told The ENQUIRER that the balding broadcaster carried on with Jessica Thorman, a married Florida woman, until just months before his 1998 wedding to Annette.
Jessica’s husband Zoltan Molnar accused Lauer of wrecking their marriage, stating: “He’s not the goody-goody nice guy he looks like on TV!”
Published reports claim that Lauer is anxious to replace his “Today” show co-host Ann Curry, who assumed the position after Meredith Vieira left last year.
Sources say he wants a bigger personality beside him in the all-out ratings war that’s seen his former TV partner Katie Couric recently sit in on “GMA” to boost its ratings with NBC tapping charismatic Sarah Palin to join Lauer as a guest co-host.
“The morning show competition has never been hotter and Matt is the reigning king,” said the rival network source. “Everyone wants to see him get knocked off his pedestal and that’s why these outrageous baby daddy rumors have resurfaced.”
Morales, 39, remains part of the “Today” show team, reporting the news. She recently told an interviewer that she still manages to cook dinner every night for her investment banker husband Joe and their sons – Josh, 8, and Luke, 3.
Meanwhile, Lauer just bought 40 acres to build a horse farm down the road from his and Annette’s $15 million mansion in the Hamptons.
Said the network source: “I think he’s trying to keep Annette happy after years of causing her misery.”
Gayblackcanada 