Photo: Taylor Hill/Filmmagic
Meredith Vieirais looking back at her controversial decision to step away from60 Minutesto raise a family.
“And to be a woman in the industry at that moment was big,” she continued. “But then to say to the boss and all the women out there, ‘I’ve had a change of heart]…’ "
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Kotb then asked if Vieira was “terrified” to go through with her departure.
“And I said, ‘Wait a minute, first of all, I don’t want to be a poster child for anybody. Secondly, if I wasn’t true to myself, doesn’t that send a worse message?’ But that really threw me and it came from a woman,” she continued. “And I get where she was coming from, but it was sort of like, ‘Whoa.’ "
Meredith Vieira and Richard Cohen with family.Courtesy Meredith Vieira
Speaking about her time leavingThe View, Vieira said it “wasn’t the best job for me at that time.”
“I also knew, timing is everything and it’s good to go out on top and to know when you’re ready for another chapter and just be confident that something will happen,” she added.
As for closing out her time onToday, Vieira said she “had this life that was wonderful between 7 and 9 in the morning” but was “really tired” in other aspects of her life. “I realized that if I signed up [to continue the show], I would be signing up for a paycheck — a really nice paycheck — and at the time, I didn’t want to do that.”
She added, “I also had certain money in the bank and I had a secure lifestyle. And it’s easier to make choices when you’re in that situation.”
source: people.com
