Guthrie flips off Lauer
"Today" show co-host Guthrie -- who replaced ousted co-host Ann Curry last June -- ignited a firestorm of controversy when she appeared to give her colleague Matt Lauer the one-finger salute on air.
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However, Guthrie fired up her Twitter account and let her fingers do the explaining, claiming that she merely pointed in Lauer's direction, after he made a wisecrack at her expense.
"Folks!! That was my INDEX finger! Photo evidence proving my innocence coming!" Guthrie wrote, adding the hashtag #fingergate.
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Guthrie quickly made good on her promise, providing a screen grab (above left) that does, indeed, seem to prove that she was making a far less offensive gesture toward Lauer.
The much-debated gesticulation took place during a segment on vacuum cleaners, when Lauer joked, "By the way, [this is] the first time Savannah has ever vacuumed."
Despite Guthrie's protestations to the contrary, a video clip of the exchange depicts Guthrie gesturing toward Lauer a second time. The second gesture, which was greeted by hoots from the crowd on the street, does appear to be considerably less innocent than the image Guthrie provided. (See image at right.)
