Katie Couric Breaks Down ‘Old Boys Network’ Days of ‘Inter-Office Schtupping,’ ‘Sexist’ Attitudes From Today Show

Screenshot via Club Random YouTube

Katie Couric opened up to Bill Maher about some of the sexism she’s faced throughout her career, calling her past in media a “different environment” for women than now.

During a discussion about Couric’s 15 years on the Today show on Maher’s Club Random podcast, Couric recalled for Today co-anchor Bryant Gumbel giving her a hard time during her first pregnancy.

“He got mad at me because I was doing something on maternity leave, and he was giving me endless shit for taking a month or two off. I was having my first baby,” she told Maher.

Couric added, “He was like, ‘Why don’t you just drop it in the field and come back to work right away?'”

After Maher argued Gumbel was “joking,” Couric acknowledged he was, but said it was “emblematic” of a larger culture.

“He was kidding, but he was giving me a lot — he was goofing on me and giving me a lot of shit, but it was emblematic of sort of an incredibly sexist attitude,” she said.

Couric referred to Gumbel as “prickly,” but praised him as “talented” and “highly intelligent.”

Maher noted Couric also worked with Matt Lauer, whose contract was axed in 2017 after accusations of sexual misconduct. NBC said at the time they’d received a complaint from a female co-worker and had reason to believe it wasn’t an “isolated” incident.

“Obviously there was a tradition of an old boys network,” Maher said, and Couric agreed.

The longtime reporter said there was “a lot of fraternization.”

“It was a very different environment,” she said. “Lots of fraternization, a polite way of saying ‘inter-office schtupping.'”

Couric added she dealt with “micoaggressions” of sexism throughout her career.

“I don’t want to use the term microaggressions, but if you think of the true definition, it was replete with microaggressions,” she said.

Watch above via Club Random podcast.