Ann Curry’s “Today” Firing Damages Matt Lauer’s Popularity, as He Rejects Interview on “Piers Morgan,” Says Source

The effects of Ann Curry's departure from NBC's "Today," two months ago, are still felt and it seems to revolve around Matt Lauer.

According to sources, Lauer is no longer popular among the morning show's staff and point the blame at him for Curry leaving the show.

"Today" saw ratings decline during this past spring and rival "Good Morning America" saw its ratings rise in over a decade. Immediately, NBC sought to replace Curry after only being in the co-anchor chair with Lauer for about 10 months.

During this time, Lauer was also renewing his contract and rumors circulated that one part of the new contract was to replace Curry.

Curry was replaced by Savannah Guthrie, yet the ratings still have not bounced in favor of "Today."

"Staffers and producers at the TODAY show hold Matt Lauer responsible for the continued decline in the ratings because they hold him responsible for Ann Curry being fired," a source says, according to Gather. "The staff wants Ann to be brought back and want Matt replaced with Lester Holt, but they know the odds of this happening are slim to none, because executives at the network have no interaction whatsoever with the TODAY show staff."

Lester Holt is the weekend co-host for the NBC morning show and has substituted during the main weekday broadcast. According to the source, Holt shares the same respected Curry received by staffers and "is always a true class act."

According to Radar Online, Lauer was a deciding factor as to why the morning show cast did not appear on CNN's "Piers Morgan."

"Good Morning America" recently was featured on the CNN primetime show and plans were for "Today" to follow suite but Radar reported that Lauer didn't think it was a good idea as it might have been inevitable that questions about Curry will be asked.

"Ann is turning out to be a thorn in Matt's side and he thinks it's unfair he has been portrayed as being responsible for her being fired from the show. Matt doesn't want to do any press for the time being and feels the show has nothing to gain by doing group interviews, so the invitation was turned down," said the Radar source.