Report: Matt Lauer Behind the Firing of Today Show Executive

Matt Lauer can put another notch in his gun belt.

It looks like Ann Curry isn't the only person that Matt Lauer has fired from the Today Show.

According to Page Six, Lauer was behind the firing of top “Today” executive Jamie Horowitz after he found out about a plan to replace his co-anchor Savannah Guthrie with Hoda Kotb.

The gossip page reports that Lauer went to NBC News President Deborah Turness amid an anchor revolt sparked by rumors that, under a possible plan by Horowitz which had been discussed with NBC brass including Turness, Guthrie would be replaced by fourth-hour co-host Kotb and Natalie Morales could be eventually unseated as news reader by Josh Elliott.

An NBC source said: “Savannah, Natalie and Willie Geist heard about the plan and talked to Matt, who went to Turness and told her, ‘I want to keep these people,’ so she fired Jamie. Once again, Matt Lauer calls the shots at ‘Today.’ The idea of bringing Jamie in was to bring change to the show to help beat ‘GMA,’ but how can you fix it if nobody can make any changes?”

NBC will have to pay Horowitz about $3 million for the remainder of his contract.

When asked about the anchor uproar, Turness said, “We have the best anchor team and the best show in morning television, and we are solely focused on the future.”