As our sister site TVNewser has been reporting, there has been a media pile-on about the future of NBC’s “Today” — and specifically co-host Matt Lauer — this week. On Tuesday, an executive producer at Cleveland Fox affiliate WJW asked weekend anchor Mark Zinni, who interned at “Today” in 1997, for his take on the situation.
Zinni responded that Lauer was “not so nice” to him while he was there. The producer, Darren Sweeney, tweeted the quote, using Lauer’s twitter handle. And that’s where the snowball effect began. On Wednesday, Lauer responded:
@markzinni huh? Always tried to be nice Mark. Sorry you didn’tthink so. Hope you’re doing well.Matt
Advertisement— Matt Lauer (@MLauer) March 27, 2013
Thursday, Zinni appeared on WJW to address the situation (video here). Zinni also set the record straight on WJW’s website, saying he’s not disgruntled:
If you know me, you probably know that I don’t take myself too seriously. So, my answer was more of a joke about being young and naive during my time at Today, but I added that he wasn’t nice to me.
I didn’t slam the guy, I just made an honest comment.
[…] Bottom line, I was shocked Matt Lauer even bothered with me and, really, he remembers me? I’m flattered.I’m not disgruntled (thanks, BuzzFeed!) but I am someone who’s happy to be working at the best station in my hometown with wonderful people. By the way, Katie [Couric] and Ann [Curry] were great, but now I start my day with FOX 8 News in the Morning.