Matt Lauer To Be Fired Due To ‘Today Show’ Slump? 'No' Says New Executive Producer Alexandra Wallace

Executives at NBC have debunked reports of Matt Lauer receiving the pink slip.

As Latinos Post reported last week, rumors circulated that Lauer could be fired due to heavy criticism and decline in ratings for NBC morning show Today.

Lauer has been criticized as one of the reasons for Ann Curry's firing back in June and has recently stirred criticism on Twitter following his coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. On top of that, ratings for Today has not rebounded to first place territory and are currently in second place behind ABC's Good Morning America.

Today executive producer Jim Bell ultimately took responsibility of Curry's departure in September, stating the decision to replace Curry with Savannah Guthrie "was absolutely my call."

Bell's tenure as the morning show's executive producer recently ended as he went back to assisting the NBC Olmypics coverage and will be replaced by Alexandra Wallace and Don Nash.

As for the rumors of a possible Lauer firing, Wallace spoke to the New York Post, stating, "There is absolutely no truth to this. There have been some recent outrageous claims regarding Matt and the Today show, and an awful lot of piling on from nameless, faceless sources. These stories are wrong and irresponsible."

Wallace's defense of Lauer comes as sites such as Radar Online reported Lauer and Wallace having a "very tense relationship" with the co-anchor disagreeing with Wallace's direction for the morning show.

"Matt Lauer is NOT happy that Jim Bell who had been the executive producer of the Today show since 2005 has been forced out," said a source to Radar. "Alexandra Wallace, who will be Bell's replacement, and Matt have never had a good working relationship. Matt doesn't like the fact that Alexandra is a big advocate of Ann Curry's."

What are your thoughts on Today? Would the latest series of events have happened if Curry was still co-anchoring or is it time for Lauer to move on to other endeavors?