The former 'Today' host angers fans on Twitter after saying the 'Equalizer' actor 'jumped all over' her and left her feeling 'uncomfortable' and 'shaken' in a 2004 interview.
- May 2, 2020
AceShowbiz - Katie Couric landed in hot water over her recent comments about Denzel Washington. The former "Today" show host said her 2004 interview with "The Book of Eli" actor left her "uncomfortable" and "shaken."
In a chat on the "Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino" podcast, Couric claimed Washington "totally misconstrued a question" she asked and he "jumped all over" her. "It was so uncomfortable," the 63-year-old host said.
Many people were quick to defend Washington. One commented, " 'Uncomfortable' meaning she tried to come for him and he checked her before she could even finish because this wasn't his first rodeo and 'not today white woman.' "
Another agreed, "He knew exactly what she meant, she's offended that he had the audacity to call her on it, so she blew the dog whistle for white women, 'I felt Uncomfortable.' "
Someone on Twitter even compared her to black TV host Gayle King, "R. Kelly threw a whole set around and Gayle ain't flinch but Denzel corrects some bulls**t and Katie Couric is 'shaken.' "
Some others dragged Couric over her past association with disgraced co-host Matt Lauer who left NBC following sexual assault allegations. One scoffed, "Katie Couric had the time to bring up being 'shaken' because Denzel corrected her leading questions in an interview 16 years ago. Did working with Matt Lauer shake her?"
Another chimed in, "Right? She worked side by side with that POS and claimed she had no clue for years. But this incident made her 'uncomfortable.' "
In the said interview with Denzel Washington, Katie Couric referred to him as a "Hollywood folk" when she asked him about celebrity involvement in politics. "I don't know what Hollywood folks are, first of all. Hollywood is a town that has some stars on the sidewalk. I don't know anybody from there," he responded. "I'm not a Hollywood folk. I don't know who they are."
When the host rephrased her question by calling him "one of those people," he replied, "Ah, there you go. Am I one of those people? Hmmm, isn't that interesting." When she finally called him an actor, he rebuffed her once again, "I'm a human being. My job is acting."
Couric apparently didn't see anything wrong with her question. "I don't think I said anything wrong, I don't know what happened," she said as she revisited the interview in the podcast chat with Pellegrino. She assumed it was just a case of the actor having "a really bad day."
"I love him, I admire him so much," she added. "He's one of my favorite actors, but I remember walking out and feeling really kind of shaken that he had kind of gone after me in a way that was completely, weirdly uncalled for."
