Katie Couric's former colleague Ashleigh Banfield rejects claims in new book: 'You went after my dad'

NewsNation anchor Ashleigh Banfield forcefully pushed back on claims made by her former NBC colleague Katie Couric in a new tell-all book claiming Banfield and her father tried to dethrone Couric as a top anchor on the "Today" show.

In her memoir, Couric shared concerns that "someone younger and cuter was always around the corner." Someone, Couric wrote, like Banfield.

"For a minute there, Ashleigh Banfield was the next big thing; I'd heard her father was telling anyone who'd listen that she was going to replace me. In that environment, mentorship sometimes felt like self-sabotage," Couric claims in "Going There," according to reporting from the Daily Mail.

A visibly shaken Banfield reacted to the excerpts on her show "Banfield" Wednesday night, rejecting the allegation that she was trying to take Couric's job, and that her aging and ailing dad played a role in the alleged coup d'etat. Banfield said she was "scared," "stunned," and "surprised" by the allegations.

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"I want to correct the record here," Banfield said. "Because you went after my dad. That's just not true."

Banfield said when she was reporting in Afghanistan in the early 2000s, her dad told a New York Post reporter how concerned he was that his daughter was on such a dangerous assignment. Her father, Banfield added, was 80 years old, "extremely senile," and living in a care home at the time. That, Banfield said, was a little bit different of a scenario than what was painted in Couric's book.

"That hurt my feelings deeply," Banfield said of Couric's claims. "And I hope Ms. Couric corrects the record on that."

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In her memoir, Couric also had less-than-kind words for other female personalities such as Martha Stewart and another former NBC colleague, Deborah Norville. Banfield said she was saddened by Couric's attitude toward her fellow female journalists because she had never regretted offering advice to younger women in the early stages of their careers, saying those relationships made her a "better journalist."

Still, Banfield said she admired Couric as one of the best anchors to have ever been on morning television. She recalled a personal story of when she became emotional watching Couric interview a Columbine victim and the father of a victim and thought she "wanted to be just like her."

"It saddens me that we didn't get to collaborate," Banfield saiid. "It saddens me that she didn't want to mentor me."

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Banfield also had stints at CNN and HLN before joining NewsNation this year.