NBC Hopin’ for a Nicely-Nice Public Lunch

Curry, Lauer in happier times

According to the NYDaily News, NBC wants Matt Lauer and Ann Curry to literally break bread to help shift the public perception of Lauer back to what it once was — the gracious and friendly “Today” talk host — before the backlash from Curry’s firing.

Network execs are encouraging the duo to do lunch — preferably at media hotspot Michael’s in midtown — and make a public display of patching things up, a source tells Confidenti@l’s Marianne Garvey.

“When the ratings fell after Ann, there was no more public ‘Matt’s really nice,’ and the bosses now need to do damage control,” the source says. “Matt’s beloved inside and they want to help him.”

The source adds that higher-ups feel the only way to repair Lauer’s image is having Curry — still under contract with NBC as a correspondent — agree to the public outing with her former co-star.

“It’s terrible; every time they try to do something to fix this, another Ann story pops up,” says the show insider. “Their biggest mistake was letting her burst into tears on air and her saying she wasn’t able to carry the ball, shifting the blame on Matt.”

The staff “absolutely loves” Lauer, insists the source, noting that he has had the same assistant for more than nine years.

Read More Now.