It’s better than late than never for a high-profile Matt Lauer intern apology, even if the said Today intern who received it had the experience more than one and a half decade ago.

Mark Zinni, who now works as an anchor/reporter for Fox 8 in Cleveland, OH retweeted a follower who quoted him, where he said that Lauer had been “not so nice” when Zinni was a “just a young kid with a bright future ahead of me.” Zinni interned for the show in 1997, the first year Lauer became a co-host. He repeated to another follower that his NBC boss had been “not nice” to work for.

Surprisingly, Matt Lauer, who rarely responds to Twitter mentions, was moved (or probably concerned) by Zinni’s lament and actually responded with a tweet.

“Huh? Always tried to be nice, Mark. Sorry you didn’t think so,” Lauer tweeted after seeing the conversation.

It’s unknown if this was part of his attempt to repair his already damaged image, after multiply popularity problems have embattled the long-time Today host the past few months.

His popularity problems started last summer, when much-loved co-star Ann Curry was forced to leave the program after just a year in her new position.

Lauer was widely blamed for her leaving, and the ratings for “Today” dipped sharply, effectively putting the series a runner-up to rival “Good Morning America.”

The anchor has since been hammered with some of the worst press in the show’s 60-year history. TMZ reported last December that several disapproving passers-by on New York City streets had screamed at the long-time anchor.

Though NBC executive Alexandra Wallace told the Associated Press in previous reports that the network isn’t considering booting Lauer, calling him the “best in the business,” rumors persists that he may soon be axed.