Ann Curry "Tortured"

New York Times Magazine reveals that Ann Curry claims that her final months at the Today show were "professional torture."

Describing it as a hostile boys club atmosphere on the set of the show, Curry complained to friends that many of her male co-workers would often be intentionally mean to her. She was "hurt and humiliated" by the backstage antics at the Today show in her final months, which allegedly included executive producer Jim Bell making a blooper reel of her most egregious on-air errors.

One staff recalled that a lot of time in the control room was spent making fun of Ann's outfit choices like a Photoshopped "Who Wore It Better" image of Curry in a bright yellow dress alongside Big Bird that was circulated among the control room staff.

Another incident that happened against her, a box of Curry's belongings were shoved by someone into a coat closet as if she had already been ousted.

Jim Bell, Executive Producer of the Today Show believed that the slip in the ratings of their show was Curry's fault and believed that there was no chemistry between her and co-anchor Matt Lauer. He was intent on getting rid of her and putting Savannah Guthrie in her place in what he called "Operation Bambi" after a TV veteran reportedly told him that firing the Curry would be like "killing Bambi."

It was also Bell who proposed the idea to Curry of making her a "global anchor" or "roving correspondent."

An emotional Curry signed off for the last time on June 28, 2011 and within hours of Curry's tearful departure from the show, Bell took a group of top producers to a Rockefeller Plaza restaurant, where they drank wine and toasted Curry's ouster, as reported by the Times.