Calling it “one of the great stories in journalism today,” author, Edward Klein defended his new unauthorized biography of Katie Couric as a story most people already know. “Katie has lived her life for the last 15 years in the pages of People magazine and the tabloids.”
In his first live TV interview promoting the 246-page book (including 22 pages of notes), Alan Colmes and Sean Hannity pressed Klein about its contents, which Hannity called “harsh stuff.”
So, why write it?
“Here’s a woman who was an enormous success in morning news, who has become a dismal failure in the evening, why?” Klein asks.
Nevermind, that it took 4 1/2 years of a Couric co-anchored Today show, before the venerable program became a dominant #1; or that when Couric took over The CBS Evening News a year ago, it was the third-rated network broadcast, just as it had been since 1990.
Hannity & Colmes asked Klein if he felt comfortable writing such salacious details knowing Couric is a single mother of two daughters. “Those kids have been reading about their mother for the last 2, 3 years.” “I’m only saying what they already know.”
And when Hannity blushed at not wanting to read about “her affairs,” Klein said “then she should probably not be going all over Nantucket with her current boyfriend and having her picture taken with him all the time.” Hmm, okay.
As for Klein’s next book, Hannity and Colmes should be safe. “I find powerful women more interesting than powerful men,” Klein said.