Katie Couric claims ex-60 Minutes boss rejected pitch for Lady Gaga interview then gave it to Anderson Cooper: He just didnt like me

Katie Couric is alleging that former “60 Minutes” executive producer Jeff Fager undermined her during her time at CBS News, claiming he rejected story ideas she pitched — only to later assign them to male colleagues.Fager “just didn’t like me,” Couric told Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast on an episode aired Wednesday.The former “Today” co-host told Cooper that she encountered “naysayers and people trying to sabotage me internally” after becoming the first woman to serve as the solo anchor of a major network evening newscast in 2006.She also reported for “60 Minutes” at the same time.Couric singled out Fager, who oversaw “60 Minutes” during much of her time at CBS, describing two instances she said exemplified the treatment she received.She recalled pitching what she believed would become a breakout profile of then-rising pop star Lady Gaga.“I said, ‘There’s this incredible singer and I think she’s going to be the next Madonna … I think we should do a profile of this person, Lady Gaga,'” Couric said, adding that she was later told: “I talked to Jeff and he said it’s not for us.”About a year later, Couric said she walked past a newsroom whiteboard and discovered the same story had been assigned to fellow correspondent Anderson Cooper.“I see Lady Gaga, Anderson Cooper,” she said.

“I know.And I was like, what? Like, this was my whole idea.”Couric also recounted being assigned a profile of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that she said was quietly given to another journo.According to Couric, Fager initially told her: “Katie, we want you to do a profile of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.”But she said her producer later informed her that State Department officials were confused because another CBS team was contacting them about the same interview.“It was sort of a bald-faced lie and then it was being done behind my back, like, without even the decency to call me,” Couric said.“Talk...