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Katie Couric admitted Tuesday that landing her groundbreaking role as America’s first solo female nightly news anchor went to her head — and claimed she failed at the job because sexist viewers worked against her.
The former star broadcaster, appearing on her previous longtime TV show, NBC’s “Today,” was asked about the rumors that “fame and the money” changed her when she left the network for her historic TV journalism job at rival CBS in 2006.
“I think there were times when probably the hubris got to me,” she acknowledged of her prominent new job at the time, adding the extra fame was “a lot to handle.
“I think it gets to everybody, and you have to kind of level set,” she said, although she insisted that she believes she “always had my priorities straight.”
Couric ended up leaving CBS when her five-year, $15 million annual-salary contract expired — after reports that she wasn’t anything near the ratings bonanza the network was expecting, given her hefty price tag.
She admitted Tuesday to not doing enough to be readily accepted at CBS after being so well known at NBC.
“I think the problem is probably I didn’t change enough when I went to CBS — I was more of a project of the ‘Today’ Show and NBC, and I think it was a real culture clash,” she told former colleague Al Roker.
But that was nothing compared to the resistance she felt from viewers at her new gig, she said, adding that she “thought we were much further along when it came to sexism.
“I thought America was really ready for a female anchor of the evening news, and I think we were just not as far along as I naively thought,” she said.
“I’m not sure if the country was ready for a female anchor,” Couric added before admitting, “Maybe they weren’t just ready for me as a female anchor because of their perceptions of me.
“But I really went there to say a woman can do this job with competence and confidence,” she said of her motivation to take the gig.
“I mean, I was doing great here,” she told Roker, insisting that she “loved my years on the ‘Today’ show” with staffers who are “so wonderful.”
Her appearance came after it was revealed that her new memoir, “Going There,” savaged many people in her past, including staffers at the show she returned to Tuesday to promote it on.
But she insisted that many of the critiques about the high-profile people who she wrote about have been “completely taken out of context to get clicks.
“There’s some cheeky observations, and I have fun,” she insisted, complaining that coverage of her book ignores the “many nice things” she has to say about friends and former colleagues.
“Yes, I’m honest about some things, but I want it to be honest. And it’s not My Little Pony and sunshine and lollipops. It’s a true account of my journey from my perspective,” Couric said.
“I’m very excited because I’m super proud of it,” she said, smiling.
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