Power list looks at Lauer fall

HODA Kotb reveals in a new Hollywood Reporter cover story that she still keeps in touch with disgraced former “Today” host Matt Lauer (photo above), even after he was given the boot for sexually harassing staffers. “We keep in touch with him. I mean, look, this is one of those complex situations,” Kotb said in her profile as part of THR’s “35 Most Powerful People in New York Media” list. “I’ve known him since I started working at NBC [in 1998]. When I was sick with breast cancer, he was the first to call. He helps and helped in ways that . . . you know, he was incredible in that way. There is that Matt and then there’s the Matt that the accusers speak of.” Kotb, who replaced Lauer opposite co-host Savannah Guthrie, added, “And those accusers’ voices matter, and that story matters.” Meanwhile, “CBS This Morning” host Gayle King said of her show’s fallen anchor, Charlie Rose, “He tells me that he’s fine. [Laughs.] Because I said, ‘I’m worried about you.’ He keeps assuring me there’s no reason to be worried about him. But I am worried about him, I am. And I do care about him. He was a big part of my life for six years. So I can’t just turn that off. But I also can’t dismiss the stories that I’m hearing, and I do take them very seriously.” Norah O’Donnell said of Rose — who was also ousted amid sexual harassment allegations — “I think we now know that his behavior was abusive and predatory. And there is absolutely zero tolerance when it comes to that. End of story.”