NewsNation anchor Ashleigh Banfield has responded exclusively to Katie Couric's latest comments about their frosty working relationship to DailyMail.com.
Last week, Couric attempted to do some damage control in People Magazine after she admitted in her new memoir, Going There, to giving Banfield the cold shoulder because helping her would have been 'self sabotage'.
In her latest comments, Katie denied icing out Banfield, but Ashleigh recalls the situation quite differently, adding that Couric's behavior made work so 'challenging' that the 'memories and timetables become crystalized.' Additionally, an NBC source who worked with both women at the time is bolstering Banfield's side, exclusively telling DailyMail.com that Couric 'blatantly lied to People Magazine.'
Ashleigh speaks out: NewsNation anchor Ashleigh Banfield has responded exclusively to Katie Couric's latest comments about their frosty working relationship to DailyMail.com
When contacted by DailyMail.com to respond to Couric's comments, Banfield exclusively said: 'I'd only been at the network for about seven months before being assigned to cover the Olympics in Sydney, Australia. I don't think many people knew my name, my profile wouldn't rise for another year until after the tragic events of 9/11 and the war on terror in Afghanistan.'
'Clearly, we have different recollections of what transpired. All I can say is that when you're on the receiving end of this kind of behavior, your memories and timetables become crystalized, since it was a very challenging time for me, personally and professionally,' she added.
In her book Going There, Couric writes that she was aware that 'someone younger and cuter was always around the corner' and specifically singles out Banfield as an example.
Couric writes: 'For a minute there, Ashleigh Banfield was the next big thing; I'd heard her father was telling anyone who'd listen that she was going to replace me. In that environment, mentorship sometimes felt like self-sabotage.'
When contacted by DailyMail.com to respond to Couric's comments, Banfield exclusively said: 'Clearly, we have different recollections of what transpired. All I can say is that when you're on the receiving end of this kind of behavior, your memories and timetables become crystalized, since it was a very challenging time for me, personally and professionally'
In People, when Couric was asked if she iced out Banfield, she changed her tune saying: 'Absolutely not. I think if someone was openly saying they were going to replace me, I don't think I helped them. I never iced her out. I never criticized her. It just didn't bring out my generous side.'
'The culture at the time and the scarcity of high-profile jobs for women — not to mention the fact that I watched Jane [Pauley] get pushed out [as Today co-anchor in 1989] because of the whims of the men in charge — sometimes made me feel protective of my position,' the 64-year-old added.
However, a well-placed NBC source who worked closely with Katie and Ashleigh back in the early aughts refutes Couric's revisionist history and tells DailyMail.com that the former Today anchor owes Banfield a big apology.
Trying to smooth things over: Last week, Couric attempted to do some damage control in People Magazine after she admitted in her new memoir, Going There, to giving Banfield the cold shoulder because helping her would have been 'self sabotage'
'Ashleigh's father's comments did not run in the New York Post until November of 2001. Katie's timeline of events simply does not add up,' the source tells DailyMail.com. 'Katie said in her book that it was Ashleigh's father telling everyone that she was going to replace her, but now she tells People that it was 'someone' – which is it Katie, get your story straight?
The insider went even further, calling out Katie's latest comments to People as falsehoods, noting that they had a front row seat for Couric's mean girl antics.
'Katie has blatantly lied to People Magazine,' the source tells DailyMail.com. 'I was in Australia when she humiliated Ashleigh and this was in September of 2000 and Ashleigh had only just recently joined MSNBC and NBC News.
'I truly hope that when Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb interview Katie on the Today show on Tuesday, they ask her if she plans on apologizing to Ashleigh,' the insider continued. 'Katie has a lot to answer for after writing this book and Savannah and Hoda can't give her a free pass as she's hurt too many people.'
DailyMail.com previously reported that while covering the Olympics, Couric humiliated Banfield and then mocked her after she was scolded for asking an 'off-limits' question during an interview with Olympic Gold medalist Michael Johnson.
'Katie is rewriting history. To say she didn't criticize her is outrageous. I was there, I saw her do it both to her face and behind her back. She was awful,' the source said. 'Many of us remember Katie's appalling treatment of Ashleigh and Katie knows in her heart what she did to her.
'Here's the truth of the matter, Ashleigh was a very new correspondent when she was sent to Sydney to cover the Olympics. She wasn't meant to go, but a veteran correspondent pulled out a few weeks before the Olympics began and Ashleigh was given the assignment at the last minute.
'Katie is rewriting history. To say she didn't criticize her is outrageous. I was there, I saw her do it both to her face and behind her back. She was awful,' the source said. 'Many of us remember Katie's appalling treatment of Ashleigh and Katie knows in her heart what she did to her.
'Katie's treatment of Ashleigh permeated the network as Katie was one of the most powerful people at NBC News and
