It has been a tough week for Today Show co-host Matt Lauer. New York Magazine this week published an expose on the Today Show‘s mishandled firing of Ann Curry and the ratings bomb in the aftermath. The story also revealed that Lauer may have been courting ABC as a contract negotiation tactic against NBC.

Now that the new details have surfaced, Lauer’s role in Curry’s firing and his off-screen personality are once again coming into question. Lauer isn’t one to let people go talking behind his back, though.

Earlier this week, former Today Show intern Mark Zinni posted a response to a rather pointed question asked of him on Twitter, saying that Lauer was “not nice”:

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(image) Mark Zinni
@MarkZinni

@CONCEDE i was an intern there in ’97, his first year on the job… how do i say this….? he was…. not nice.

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Lauer has replied directly to Zinni, stating that he “always tried to be nice”:

Whatever the real story is, Lauer’s reputation has certainly taken a hit in the past year. Going forward, Lauer and the Today Show will continue to war against Good Morning America for morning show supremacy.