NBC fires Lauer amid sexual misconduct claims
The wave of sexual harassment allegations roiling American society broke over a familiar figure, Today show host Matt Lauer, who was fired by NBC News on Wednesday for what its chairman termed “inappropriate sexual behavior.”
Lauer, 59, may be the best-known, and perhaps best-liked, of the men whose high-flying careers have crashed in the wake of accusations besetting media, government and the entertainment industry over the past two months. Over more than 20 years as a national figure, Lauer greeted millions of viewers each weekday morning as the co-host of the popular Today program, commanding a $25 million-a-year salary in the process.
The number of prominent men brought down by allegations of sexual misconduct has snowballed ever since revelations about Hollywood mogul Harvey Wein-
stein first surfaced in early October. Only hours after NBC disclosed Lauer’s firing, former Prairie Home Companion host Garrison Keillor was fired by Minnesota Public Radio, which said he engaged in “inappropriate behavior” with a colleague.
In a staff memo, NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack said the network received “a detailed” complaint about Lauer on Monday night. “It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company’s standards. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment.”
Lack provided few details about Lauer’s accuser or the nature of her allegation. But he said, “While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he’s been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.”
Indeed, several hours after Lauer was dismissed, the show-business publication Variety published a detailed account of allegations against him, based on interviews with three women who said they were victimized by him.
Variety said Lauer, who is married, once gave a colleague a sex toy as a present and included an explicit note about how he wanted to use it on her. He also allegedly invited another female employee to his office and then dropped his pants, showing her his penis. He then reprimanded her for not engaging in a sexual act.
Variety said Lauer’s harassment was abetted by a special button at his desk that activated a locking mechanism on his office door, enabling him to lock the door without getting up. This ensured that he could initiate inappropriate contact with female employees without worrying that anyone would walk in on him, Variety said.
The women said they told NBC executives about Lauer, but their complaints were ignored to protect a star of the network’s most profitable news franchise.
NBC received two more complaints about Lauer after his dismissal on Wednesday, according to The New York Times, including one from a former employee who said Lauer invited her to his office in 2001 and had sex with her. She told the newspaper that she didn’t report the encounter because she didn’t want to lose her job and felt ashamed.
NBC News did not respond to a request for comment.
Lauer joined Today in 1994 as its news anchor. He became co-host of the morning program with Katie Couric in 1997 after Bryant Gumbel stepped down.
His current co-host, Savannah Guthrie, read Lack’s statement on the air on Wednesday’s program, her voice and manner betraying sadness and discomfort with the news.
One of Lauer’s accusers and her attorney, Ari Wilkenfeld of Washington, met with managers from NBC’s human resources and legal departments for several hours Monday night, according to Wilkenfeld, who declined to identify his client.
“Our impression at this point is that NBC acted quickly, as all companies should, when confronted with credible allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace,” he said in a statement. “While I am encouraged by NBC’s response to date, I am in awe of the courage my client showed to be the first to raise a complaint and to do so without making any demands other than the company do the right thing.”
Lauer, who hasn’t commented on any of the allegations against him, is the second cohost of a morning TV show to lose his job in the past week. Charlie Rose, his rival on CBS’ This Morning program, was fired last week after eight women told The Washington Post that he had acted inappropriately toward them over a number of years.
The news of Lauer’s firing prompted an early morning tweet from President Donald Trump: “Wow, Matt Lauer was just fired from NBC for ‘inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace,’ ” he tweeted. “But when will the top executives at NBC & Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News. Check out Andy Lack’s past!”
Trump is himself the subject of allegations of harassment, including during his tenure as the star of the NBC reality shows The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice. Cast and crew members said he made inappropriate comments to women; one of the show’s contestants, Summer Zervos, has sued him for defamation for calling her a liar after she went public with allegations that he harassed her during production.
NBC also owns Access Hollywood, the entertainment-news program that captured Trump on video in 2005 bragging that he molests women. NBC News was aware of the recording, but delayed reporting on it last year during the presidential campaign. The recording was leaked to The Post last year.
In August, the network’s news division cut short months of reporting about Weinstein, amid conversations with Weinstein’s lawyers. The reporter on the story, Ronan Farrow, eventually took his work to the New Yorker magazine, which published a series of detailed stories about Weinstein.
The Today staff broke the news about Lauer early Wednesday, marking one of the few instances in which a news organization was first to report on the misconduct of one of its own employees.
“All we can say is we are heartbroken,” said co-host Savannah Guthrie, who appeared to be near tears when she disclosed Lauer’s firing. “I’m heartbroken. … How do you reconcile your love for someone with the revelation that they have behaved badly?”
She said she was “heartbroken for the brave colleague who came forward to tell her story.” Lauer’s accuser has not been identified.
After making the announcement, Guthrie turned to co-host Hoda Kotb, who was filling in for Lauer, and grabbed her hand in a gesture of solidarity and support. Weather forecaster Al Roker, who also was clearly moved by the news, told viewers, “I’m still trying to process the news.”
In his staff memo, Lack wrote, “Our highest priority is to create a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected, and to ensure that any actions that run counter to our core values are met with consequences, no matter who the offender.
“We are deeply saddened by this turn of events. But we will face it together as a news organization — and do it in as transparent a manner as we can.”
NBC had no announcement about who would replace Lauer on Today, the daily, four-hour news and discussion program that is the network’s most famous news program and a huge network cash cow.
In addition to Lauer and Rose, prominent TV news figures who have been fired for alleged harassment include Bill O’Reilly and Roger Ailes of Fox News and political commentator Mark Halperin, who served as an analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.