Katy Tur is known to millions as an anchor at MSNBC. Now, in a revealing interview with correspondent Tracy Smith for “CBS Sunday Morning,” Tur talks about her childhood, growing up in the media, and her new warts-and-all memoir, “Rough Draft.” The interview will be broadcast on “CBS Sunday Morning,” June 12 on CBS and streamed on Paramount+.
Tur, who is married to “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil, grew up in Los Angeles with her parents, Bob Tur and Marika Gerrard, who in the 1980s and ’90s reported from a helicopter. The couple, sometimes with Katy and brother James in tow, covered some of the biggest events of their time, from riots to wildfires.
“When I was a kid, they were the coolest people in the world,” Tur told Smith. “We had a helicopter. I got to go up in a helicopter. I knew how to fly a helicopter. … It was a really unique and interesting childhood that nobody else had.”
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Their home life, however, wasn’t always perfect. Tur and her mother recall her father coming home in fits of rage.
“Something would set him off, and he would get so, so out of control that he would throw his fist through a wall,” Tur said. “And it happened often. I mean, we would go to the store, buy plaster, plaster them up.”
Tur said she remembers her father throwing batteries at her mother.
“The violence was always there,” Tur says. “It felt like it was normal, like that was just how a relationship worked. It got angry, it got violent. You, you yelled and you screamed, and then everything was fine.”
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In a conversation with Smith, Tur opens up about her career, her home life, and why she chose to go public with her family stories in the book (which is published by an imprint of Simon & Schuster, a division of Paramount Global, CBS’ corporate parent).
Tur also discusses what it was like to learn that her father is transgender and planned to transition. Since 2013, her father has been known as Zoey Tur. In the book, Tur uses “he/him” when discussing the past and “she/her” when writing about her father’s revelation and everything after.
Zoey Tur also talks with Smith about her relationship with Katy Tur and the violent outbursts she describes. “Throwing batteries? Probably, yeah. Punching walls? There were a couple. I was in the news business and I, we, were under … extraordinary pressure,” Zoey Tur said. “I could be very intimidating, for sure. And, you know, and if I, if the kids felt I was intimidating, I apologize. I did the best I could.”
Tur will also appear live on “CBS Mornings” Monday, June 13.
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