Katie Couric says a male colleague's advice after she encountered workplace sexism became a 'life lesson'

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Katie Couric, 69, says a supportive male colleague taught her one of the biggest life lessons after she experienced workplace sexism.

During an appearance on Wednesday's episode of "Call Her Daddy," Couric opened up about the challenges she faced early in her broadcast journalism career.

She recounted an incident in which an executive made a sexist remark about her during a production meeting.

"He said something like, 'That's not like Katie. She's been successful because of her hard work, her writing skills, and her breast size,'" Couric said, recalling his words.

Couric said the incident happened at a "big table surrounded by male executives," a lot of whom were "pretty young."

She said the sexist remark left her feeling "flummoxed," but a male colleague, the late former CNN anchor Don Farmer, stepped in to help her after learning what had happened. He urged Couric to confront the executive, and together they drafted a memo demanding an apology, she said.

"He got on his little Smith Corona typewriter, and together we wrote this memo saying, 'What you said to me was inappropriate, insulting, sexist, and totally unacceptable. I expect an apology immediately. If you do that, we can keep this between us,'" Couric said.

Couric said she didn't even know whether there was a human resources department she could turn to to report the incident.

"But how great that my friend Don Farmer said, 'You do not have to put up with that. We are going to write him this memo,'" she said.

Looking back, Couric said Farmer's advice and support stayed with her long after the incident.

"He helped me realize the importance of standing up for yourself. So, it was a life lesson that extended way beyond that incident," she said. "I really owe him a lot, and I've always really been grateful to him for that."

Couric isn't the only prominent woman to speak publicly about navigating sexism in the workplace.

In a 2025 podcast appearance, the late primatologist Jane Goodall recalled how her National Geographic cover prompted sexist remarks from male scientists, who suggested she was featured because of her "nice legs" and not her research.

"Back then, all I wanted was to get back to the chimps. So if my legs were getting me the money, thank you legs," Goodall said.

In a 2025 interview, Scarlett Johansson said many of the early roles she landed were "deeply unfulfilling" because they relied on her sex appeal.

"But when I was younger, a lot of the roles I was offered, or I went for, had their ambitions or character arcs revolving around their own desirability, or the male gaze, or a male-centered story," she said.

Amanda is a senior reporter at Business Insider's Singapore bureau. She covers real estate and lifestyle, with a focus on the stories of everyday people and how they live and find home in different places, particularly across Asia.Her work explores relocation trends and alternative living, often intersecting with travel, culture, wellness, and relationships.In 2025, she won the Singapore Press Club's Rising Stars Young Digital Journalist Award.She previously worked as a writer and video producer at a content marketing agency in Singapore. She graduated from the University at Buffalo with a BA (Hons) in Sociology.Got a tip? Reach her at [email protected].Selected stories: