By Breaking Celebrity News Staff

Poor Ann Curry.

One day after Curry made an incredibly awkward return to the weekday edition of TODAY for the first time since her firing in late June, her role was noticeably toned down on NBC’s popular morning show on Friday.

In case you missed it, TODAY opened Friday with its all-star news team excitedly exiting a double-decker bus in London. One-by-one, the team exited -- new co-host Savannah Guthrie, Matt Lauer, news reader Natalie Morales, Al Roker -- heck, they even let controversial contributor Ryan Seacrest on the bus! We kept waiting to see Ann, but to no avail. When she did appear on the program  -- 17 minutes after it started --  it was only on tape, for a short interview with Olympic organizer Sebastian Coe.

Watch the video on Breaking Celebrity News

As Breaking Celebrity News previously reported, Curry came face-to-face with Lauer on Thursday’s TODAY for the first time since her teary-eyed goodbye on June 28. Sources have said Lauer  -- considered TODAY’s golden boy -- was behind her firing after the show started to slide in the ratings. 

In an incredibly awkward exchange on live te