Katie Couric calls Matt Lauer 'abusive' and says she has 'no relationship' with him anymore

• Katie Couric called Matt Lauer "abusive" in a "Today Show" interview ahead of her book release.
• She added that she no longer has a relationship with Lauer, even though the pair shared the anchor desk at "Today" for nine years.

Katie Couric returned to the "Today Show" ahead of the release of her new book, "Going There," to dish on her former co-host Matt Lauer, calling him "disgusting" and "abusive" and saying she was shocked by the sexual misconduct scandal that took him down.

Couric spent 15 years at the "Today Show" and she shared the anchor desk with Lauer during nine of those.

The former host recalled learning of Lauer's scandals.

"That was really really hard and it took me a long time to process what was going on because the side of Matt I knew ... was kind and generous and considerate. A good colleague," she told host Savannah Guthrie.

She continued: "As I got more information and learned what was going on behind the scenes, it was really upsetting and disturbing. and then I did some of my own reporting. I talked to people, I tried to excavate what was going on. It was really devastating but also disgusting."

"I think what I realized is there was a side of Matt I never really knew and I tried to understand why he behaved the way he did, why he was so reckless and callous and abusive toward other women," he continued.

Couric recalled gossip around Lauer and his wrongdoings in the 90s, but she noted that back then, it felt like "it was none of your business."

She added that the idea of what is considered a consensual relationship has changed dramatically since then.

When Guthrie asked about the nature of Couric's current relationship with Lauer, Couric shot back, saying, "we have no relationship."

In her book, Couric includes a sympathetic text message exchange with Lauer after he was fired, according to the "Today Show."

According to the Daily Mail, Couric wrote to Lauer that she was "crushed."

"I love you and care about you deeply," she reportedly wrote. "I am here. Please let me know if you want to talk. There will be better days ahead." Lauer responded with a blowing kiss emoji.

"I think I used those text messages because I thought they were very illustrative of how our relationship evolved and ultimately deteriorated," she told "Today," "So I thought that was a powerful way to kind of really let the reader into my thought process and as I got more and more information how it was harder and harder for me to reconcile these two sides."

"Going There" hits bookshelves on October 26.