Sacked TV anchor Lauer expresses ‘shame’ and ‘regret’

More details emerged of harassment allegations against NBC’s Matt Lauer, the second US star anchor sacked in a week as the sexual misconduct hurricane pummels television networks after convulsing Hollywood and politics.

The 59-year-old married father of three and affable host of NBC’s Today show beamed into American homes for decades, expressed “shame” and “regret” after being sacked when a female colleague accused him of sexual misconduct.

“Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterised,” he said in a statement read on Thursday on Today. “But there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed.”

Lauer is the biggest media scalp in the firestorm of sexual misconduct allegations that has engulfed the United States, derailing the careers of Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein, Oscar winner Kevin Spacey, and last week CBS News anchor Charlie Rose.

Paid US$25mil (RM102mil) a year, he interviewed four of the last sitting US presidents, anchoring some of the world’s biggest news events for more than two decades including numerous Olympic Games, and breaking news of the Sept 11 attacks.

His exit leaves George Stephanopoulos at ABC News the last male star standing on national morning news programmes at the traditional three US broadcast networks.

“Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul searching,” Lauer said. “It is now my full-time job.”

NBC News confirmed that two additional women had come forward against Lauer. An NBC correspondent covering the story said there could be as many as eight accusers, but that anonymity made it difficult to tabulate.

One anonymous former employee told The New York Times that Lauer summoned her to his office in 2011, locked the door and sexually assaulted her. She told the Times that she passed out and had to be taken to a nurse.

Hollywood trade weekly Variety published a two-month investigation resulting from dozens of interviews, suggesting a pattern of inappropriate behaviour.

Allegations included Lauer exposing himself to a female employee in his office, inviting female colleagues to his hotel room while covering the Olympics and sending a mortified colleague a sex toy with an explicit note.