"Operation Bambi" Ann Curry Removal Plot from Today: New Details Emerge

The exit of Ann Curry from The Today Show was nicknamed "Operation Bambi" by the show's producers.  They called Curry's removal "Operation Bambi" because to nix her role on the show would be as iconic as killing Disney's iconic character Bambi. She was also "tortured" behind the scenes before she left the program. A new book by New York Times reporter Brian Stelter, "Top of the Morning", contains several details about Curry's last months on Today.

Curry's public firing from Today was just the surface of months of cruelty and humiliation from staffers.  They reportedly made fun of a yellow dress she wore, comparing it to Sesame Street's Big Bird. Curry felt that the boys' club atmosphere behind the scenes at 'Today' undermined her from the start, and she told friends that her final months were a form of professional torture.

Steltzer writes that "Several boxes of Curry's belongings ended up in a coat closet, as if she had already been booted off the premises. One staff person recalled that "a lot of time in the control room was spent making fun of Ann's outfit choices or just generally messing with her."

The first chapters of the book, recently released, discuss the months leading to Curry's emotional parting of ways from the show. According to Steltzer, the mastermind behind the plan was former executive producer Jim Bell, who was convinced the show wouldn't survive with Curry on board.  The book says Bell even "commissioned a blooper reel of Curry's worst on-air mistakes."

Reports indicate that since parting ways with the show, Curry has kept to herself in her Connecticut home-but often woken early, as if she were still on the show, to read fan mail and cry.

Most people would, if treated like she was! The show has not yet made an official statement on the matter. Steltzer's book, "Top of the Morning", comes out April 23.