As the post-Weinstein reckoning rages on, longstanding Today show anchor Matt Lauer is the latest prominent man in media to be fired for sexual misconduct.
On Wednesday morning, NBC announced that Lauer had been terminated. In a memo to company employees, NBC News Chairman Andy Lack wrote that the decision stemmed from “a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer” and revealed that though this was the first of its kind, “we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.”
Shortly after the news broke, Variety‘s New York Bureau Chief Ramin Setoodeh tweeted that he and reporter Elizabeth Wagmeister had spent two months investigating “serious sexual harassment allegations” against the Today host, and NBC was aware of their work. Within hours of NBC’s announcement, Variety published their report and revealed numerous disturbing allegations of sexual harassment against Lauer.
Three women spoke to the publication—choosing to remain unnamed for fear of career retaliation—and their accounts were corroborated by friends and colleagues. One of the women said she once received a sex toy from the former anchor, who also detailed how he would want to use it on her in an “explicit note.” Another said Lauer once called her into his office, dropped his pants, and exposed himself to her—then chastised her when she refused to engage in a sexual act. And numerous Today employees said it was well-known that Lauer often made lewd comments to female colleagues, be it asking them who they’d slept with or telling them which fellow co-hosts he wanted to sleep with during rounds of “fuck, marry, kill.”
Per Variety, the complaint that resulted in Lauer’s termination stemmed from an incident that first occurred during the 2014 Sochi Olympics and continued for several months. On Monday, an NBC employee met with human resources about the continued encounters and the network quickly took action—but others say that past complaints “fell on deaf ears given the lucrative advertising surrounding Today.”
According to the bombshell report, Lauer’s office was fashioned with a button under his desk that “allowed him to lock his door from the inside without getting up.” This gave him the power to initiate sexual contact with female employees without fear of someone walking in, two women told Variety. And when Lauer was traveling on assignment, he would often fixate on young women on staff, often inviting them back to his hotel rooms.
“There were a lot of consensual relationships, but that’s still a problem because of the power he held,” a former producer told Variety. “He couldn’t sleep around town with celebrities or on the road with random people, because he’s Matt Lauer and he’s married. So he’d have to do it within his stable, where he exerted power, and he knew people wouldn’t ever complain.”
Lauer’s former Today co-hosts addressed the possibility of additional allegations coming forward as they announced the news Wednesday morning.
“As I’m sure you can imagine, we are devastated and we are still processing all of this,” Savannah Guthrie said to viewers at the top of the broadcast. “I will tell you right now we do not know more than what I just shared with you, but we will be covering this story as reporters, as journalists. I’m sure we will be learning more details in the hours and days to come. And we promise we will share that with you.”
Though Guthrie said she was “heartbroken” for her former colleague, she also made clear that she was similarly distraught for “the brave colleague who came forward to tell her story and any other women who have their own stories to tell.”
“This reckoning that so many organizations have been going through is important, it’s long overdue and it must result in workplaces where all women—all people—feel safe and respected,” Guthrie added.
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