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Ann Curry speaks in Naples 2 days after Matt Lauer fired from NBC

Posted at 6:43 PM, Dec 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-01 18:43:16-05

Former NBC News anchor was in Naples for a fundraiser Friday - just two days after the firing of her former Today Show co-host Matt Lauer. Lauer was fired after female coworkers made complaints about him to NBC News management regarding inappropriate conduct.

Curry took the stage at the RItz-Carlton in Naples as the guest speaker of the 2017 Power of the Purse, which raises money to help at-risk women and girls in Collier County. While she did not specifically address Lauer's firing during her speech, she indicated that the recent trend of women speaking up about sexual harassment in the workplace is long overdue.

"It does seem now that women all across this nation are rising in a way we haven't seen since the late 1960s," Curry told the crowd of over 500. "To support other women, and also to stand up for themselves. I am actually beginning to hope that we might, in our lifetimes, see the true power of women unbound and unleashed on this world."

Curry's reporting has taken her around the world, and has interviewed people as diverse as dictators, and the Dalai Lama. She left the "Today Show" in 2012. She kept her speech in Naples focused on her dedication to humanitarianism, without mentioning Lauer's firing.

"I don't think that was for today," said Trish Leonard of Bonita Springs. "But I do believe that she said, 'speak up.'"

"I think today was about the women, and really about the cause and how to try and help humanity," added Kamela Patton, Superintendent of Collier County Public Schools.