In a bid to beat "Good Morning America" for TV ratings, the "Today" show has reportedly fired co-hosts Natalie Morales and Willie Geist. An NBC source told US Weekly that Morales and Geist "were recently told they were fired" but both of them already have new gigs lined up.
Reportedly, Morales is in talks to join ABC and Geist will switch to CBS. According to US, the changes were recommended by NBC general manager Jamie Horowitz, who was fired last week after two months on the job.
In a memo obtained by the magazine, NBC News' Deborah Turness said that the decision to fire Horowitz was simply because he was "not the right fit" for the job but rumors claim that he was not getting along with certain co-hosts or staff members.
There were also reports that a lot of people did not agree with the changes he wanted to make at the "Today" show. In September, he was hired to help push the morning show in a higher ratings bracket than "Good Morning America."
Now that Horowitz was let go, US reports that NBC might try and woo Geist and Morales back in. Another source told the magazine that there have also been talks of other changes "floating around" to help the show pick up steam including moving Hoda Kotb (who dominates the 10 a.m. hour with Kathie Lee Gifford) to 9 a.m. and hiring "Good Morning America" alum Josh Elliot.
However, a rep for "Today" told Page Six that the rumors surrounding the shake-ups are not true and no one has been fired.
"NBC's TODAY has the best anchor team in morning television. The entire TODAY show anchor team - Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, Willie Geist, Carson Daly, Tamron Hall, Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb - are incredibly talented, valued and have our support," the statement read. "In response to the false rumors that have been circulated about our anchor team, NBC wants to be absolutely clear: The rumors are wrong - period."
