How Katie Couric humiliated Ashleigh Banfield at the 2000 Sydney Olympics

Katie Couric’s anger towards rival Ashleigh Banfield was fully visible during NBC’s coverage of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Couric humiliated Banfield when she made him wait outside while Couric finished an interview, continued to let Banfield cool off his heels as Couric’s then nine-year-old daughter interviewed a guest for her school newspaper , then mocked Banfield after being berated for asking a “forbidden” question during an interview with Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson.

An NBC insider who worked with both Ashleigh Banfield and Katie Couric and watched it all unfold now tells DailyMail.com: “It was such a disappointing scene.”

“Katie Couric caused this problem in Sydney and she used it to throw Ashleigh Banfield into the network. It was shameful, ”they added.

Couric has already given a taste of her “bad girl” character behind the scenes of her upcoming “Going There” memoir where she admits to having frozen her female colleagues who she said were her competition.

But now DailyMail.com can reveal how far the TV host has gone to stay on top.

The incident began when a producer informed Banfield that she would replace legendary NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw and interview Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson in his stead at Sydney Olympic Park.

Katie Couric would interview her first for the TODAY Show and Banfield would then interview her for the next NBC Nightly News broadcast.

A senior producer told Banfield that NBC has made an agreement with Michael Johnson’s team that no questions will be asked specifically about the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

However, Banfield was told she could inquire about rumors that other athletes had doped to gain an advantage at the Olympics.

Johnson has never used drugs, but years later he returned his gold medal for the relay race in Sydney when it was revealed that his teammate Antonio Pettigrew admitted to using steroids.

When Banfield and a production assistant arrived at Sydney Olympic Park where the TODAY Show had their custom set, an aggressive producer who worked for Couric walked over to Banfield and yelled in his face, “You’re not. supposed to be here, ”says the insider.

“Spit was flying all over Ashleigh’s face,” they said.

The producer reportedly told Banfield to “sit outside the studio door on this chair”. The chair belonged to the show’s security guard who looked mortified.

The producer then looked at the production assistant and said, “It’s okay, you can come in, but she has to sit outside,” referring to Banfield.

The production assistant was ushered inside where Couric was putting her microphone on and joking about how she made Banfield wait outside and was banned from entering until she was done. .

“I hope it didn’t mean too much that she was kicked out of here. Hehehehe, ”Couric reportedly said as everyone laughed.

As Banfield waited outside, Couric announced, “I think Michael [Johnson] has another interview to do before he leaves, but before he does, my daughter Ellie has to interview him for a school newspaper first.

Banfield continued to wait as nine-year-old Ellie preceded her. Michael then gave Ellie one of his gold running shoes that he signed for her.

Couric writes about this incident in his book “Going There”, but makes no mention of his breakup with Banfield in Sydney.

“It’s true, sometimes the exaggerated benefits of my job made it difficult to keep everyone grounded,” Couric writes. “How could I not bring the girls to the Olympics in Salt Lake City, Sydney, Athens? They met gold medalists; Ellie interviewed sprinter Michael Johnson for a school newspaper and he autographed one of his gold running shoes to him. ‘

Finally, it was Banfield’s turn to interview the runner and she was ushered into the room and straight onto the set.

Rather than leaving the set so Banfield could end the interview in peace, Couric stood there to watch with a production crew and his daughter.

Everything was going well until Banfield asked him about the rumor of athlete drug use at the Olympics.

Michael stopped and looked furious and a member of his team stepped in and said, “This was not accepted, what are you doing? “

Couric then started to laugh at Banfield out loud in front of the production assistant and everyone around her.

‘What is she doing? Who does what she thinks she is? It’s so embarrassing for me and for the TODAY Show, ”Couric reportedly said.

The interview quickly ended and as Banfield left the set she walked past Couric who said, ‘Eww that was awkward Ashleigh. Uh. Embarrassing.’

Banfield then returned to the NBC newsroom where she was berated for asking the question and for embarrassing Couric.

The NBC insider told DailyMail.com that Couric used this event to undermine Banfield through NBC News.

‘Here is America’s so-called sweetheart, showing that she was not a supporter of her colleague or another woman, and openly rejoicing that she had first prevented Ashleigh from d ‘being on set, then had her kid do that pathetic school project interview with Michael, then relished Michael’s response when he stopped the interview just as Ashleigh asked the most important question », They declared.

“Ashleigh Banfield was the only reporter in the room that day. As Katie Couric sold her dark and cheerful fake soul to gain access to Michael Johnson, Ashleigh attempted to ask the question that was relevant to what was happening at the Sydney Olympics.

“And it was vindicated years later when Johnson returned one of the gold medals he won in Sydney for the 4x400m relay because his teammate had actually used performance enhancing drugs behind his back.” , they added.

In 2003, a New York Times article, titled “From Cable Star to Face in the Crowd,” cited the Sydney incident as an example of Banfield’s inability to get along with his colleagues, especially Katie Couric.

‘Mrs. Banfield also had issues with Ms. Couric and the TODAY staff, ”the article read. During the 2000 Olympics, she angered the program team when they showed up on their set in Sydney, Australia, to interview runner Michael Johnson after Ms Couric, who asked her to give an exclusive interview to NBC, finished. One person who was there said that Ms Banfield broke TODAY’s promise to Mr Johnson and asked him about an Olympic steroid controversy. Ms Banfield said that the producers of “NBC Nightly News” told him to do it, but the resentment stuck.

Our source read the same NYT article and said: “A few years later I read in the New York Times that Ashleigh was having ‘issues’ with colleagues like Katie Couric. My blood boiled when they were over. mentioned the Sydney Olympics as the prime example.

“Katie Couric caused this problem in Sydney and she used it to destroy Ashleigh Banfield within the network. It was shameful.

“I kept thinking, what must Katie’s daughter be thinking when she sees her mother behave like this?” What example does she give him? As a parent you teach your kids to be nice and not to bully others, but Katie was the complete opposite of Ashleigh and she had no problem doing so in front of her daughter and all the staff at Today. Show, ”they added.

When contacted by DailyMail.com, Ashleigh Banfield made no comment beyond saying, “I don’t want to reopen old injuries, but Sydney was certainly a professional challenge for me.”

A representative for Katie Couric did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.

DailyMail.com previously revealed that Couric admits in his upcoming book that during her stay in TODAY she was unwelcoming to other women because she felt she needed to “protect my territory”.

She writes that she knew that “someone younger and cuter was always around the corner” and cites Banfield as an example.

Couric writes: “For a minute there, Ashleigh Banfield was the next big thing; I had heard that her father told whoever would listen that she was going to replace me. In this environment, mentoring sometimes felt like self-sabotage.