Katy Tur opens up about her reaction to her father Zoey Tur coming out as trans

MSNBC host Katy Tur has been candid about her reaction when her legendary broadcast dad came out to her as transgender nearly a decade ago.

Speaking to CBS about her new memoir, Rough Draft, Katy recalled her childhood flying over Los Angeles with her helicopter reporter parents, former broadcast power couple Marika Gerrard and Zoey Tur – formerly Bob Tur.

The 38-year-old opened up about the 2013 phone call with her estranged father, who had never met her two children with CBS This Morning co-host Tony Dokoupil.

‘My father said: ‘I am a woman.’ And I said, “What?” And my dad said, “I’m a woman, I’m changing, I’m becoming a woman,” Katy told CBS Sunday morning.

“And I remember being confused at first and saying, ‘You must be kidding. You’re kidding, what are you talking about?”’

The MSNBC host also accused her father of throwing batteries and banging walls at her, her brother and her mother when she was growing up.

Katy said her father confessed to her during the call that her volatility and violence during her turbulent marriage to Gerrard stemmed from Zoey’s inability to be her real self.

Zoey, who is famous for covering the 1992 Los Angeles riots and OJ Simpson’s infamous low-speed chase from the sky, acknowledged that working in the demanding journalism industry had influenced her demeanor at home.

‘She [Katy] really looked up to me and I let her down. No father wants to disappoint his daughter… throw batteries? Probably yes. break down walls? There were a few,” she told CBS.

MSNBC host Katy Tur (left) has been candid about her reaction when her legendary father, Zoey Tur, formerly Bob Tur, (right), the broadcaster, came out as transgender to her almost a decade ago

Speaking to CBS ahead of her new memoir, Rough Draft, Katy reminisced about her childhood, spent in the skies of Los Angeles with her helicopter reporter parents, former broadcast power couple Marika Gerrard and Zoey Tur – formerly Bob Tur Angeles explored

The MSNBC host also accused her father of throwing batteries and banging walls at her, her brother and her mother when she was growing up.

Katy, who went on to become an award-winning journalist herself, told CBS she was confused when she received a call from her father in 2013, the last time she spoke to her.

“And my father was adamant. “I’m the wrong person. I will become the right person. Do not you see? That’s why I was so angry. “And it was really just, it was a lot,” Katy said.

Zoey had previously said that Katy hasn’t spoken to her since she made the decision to transfer.

Zoey has also said in the past that she doesn’t consider Katy to be “transphobic.”

“It’s that her hero father became like that. And it’s the fear of not belonging. It’s the pressure of being on the TV network. It’s the conservatism she has to endure,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016.

“…You must understand that her image of me has been torn apart,” Tur said.

Speaking to CBS, Zoey admitted he had let down her daughter and blamed her past tantrums on the stresses she was experiencing in the business.

“I was in the news business and we were under tremendous pressure. I sure could be very intimidating. And if the kids felt I was intimidating, I apologize. I did my best,” she said.

‘She [Katy] really looked up to me and I let her down. No father wants to disappoint his daughter… throw batteries? Probably yes. break down walls? There were a few,” Zoey told CBS. Pictured above, Zoey and Katy years ago

Zoey, who is famous for covering the 1992 Los Angeles riots and OJ Simpson’s infamous low-speed chase from the sky, acknowledged that working in the demanding journalism industry had influenced her demeanor at home

Katy has a contract with One Signal Publishers/Atria Books for the memoir Rough Draft: Motherhood & Media in a World Gone Mad.

Katy told CBS that her work ethic made her feel compelled to share both the good and bad sides of her parents’ marriage in her new memoir.

“And part of the story is the violence. If I had only written the good stuff, it would have been a lie. It’s a business where you can’t lie. They’re supposed to be telling the truth and that’s the truth,” she told the outlet.

In her memoir Rough Draft, Katy tells everything from childhood to journalism to becoming a parent.

She is also the author of Unbelievable: My Front Row Seat to the Crazyest Campaign in History, a best-selling report on Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign for NBC.

“Rough Draft to me isn’t a story of the last four years, it’s a story of the last 40,” Katy said in a statement last year.

“I watched my parents revolutionize the breaking news business and then fell apart themselves, a fact I ran away from until I had no choice: write this book or walk away. I decided to write.’

Katy told CBS that her work ethic made her feel compelled to share both the good and bad sides of her parents’ marriage in her new memoir

Zoey previously said her daughter’s reaction was “not unusual” and claimed that it had a huge impact on Katy’s life and was the reason she got into journalism. Above a young Katy Tur

Zoey Tur is famous for covering the LA 92′ riots and the infamous low speed chase of OJ Simpson from the sky

Zoey said she made the decision to make the switch while sitting in a Florida hotel room working on a documentary about George Zimmerman, telling herself she either had to do something or her life would end in suicide.

She started watching videos on YouTube, which inspired her so much that she wrote personal letters to her son and daughter, sharing her news and explaining her plans for the future.

“There’s no going back from this,” she said in 2016.

“And I fell on the floor and my phone lit up. it was my son And his reaction was, “Well, if it makes you happy, I’m happy.”

However, Katy “didn’t like it at all for a moment,” Zoey said, adding, “They knew I was bisexual. That was acceptable. The transgender stuff, no. No, that has crossed the line.”

Zoey previously said her daughter’s reaction was “not unusual” and claimed that it had a huge impact on Katy’s life and was the reason she got into journalism.

Katy joined the NBC team in 2009 and steadily rose through the ranks.

In 2009, she received the AP’s Best Spot News Award for her coverage of the 2008 Manhattan crane collapse.

She covered the Trump presidential campaign for NBC in 2016 and was the one who briefed him on the Access Hollywood Tape. She is now an anchor for MSNBC.