NBC has fired its leading
morning news anchor Matt Lauer over a sexual harassment allegation, the
network’s president for news said in a memo to staff on Wednesday.
Matt Lauer allegedly
sexually assaulted a female NBC staffer during the Sochi Winter Olympics in
2014.
An NBC insider said
Lauer’s alleged victim complained to HR on Monday: “This happened so quickly.
She didn’t go to the media, she made a complaint to NBC’s human resources, and
her evidence was so compelling Lauer
was fired on Tuesday night. The victim says she has evidence that this has also
happened to other women, but so far we don’t have evidence of that.”
Another source revealed
the decision
to fire Lauer was made late Tuesday night by NBC News chairman Andy Lack.
Lauer’s firing comes
amid rumors that several news outlets were working on stories about his alleged
sexual misconduct.
Reporters for the New York Times had been investigating
Lauer for several weeks, according to sources who had been contacted by the
paper.
In a published report
from Closer
Weekly on November 21, Lauer had decided to leave Today when his estimated $25 million-a-year contract expired in
2018. Citing his ongoing rivalry with Megyn
Kelly and his desire to see more of his family his “heart just wasn’t in the
job this past year.”
Lauer is 59. His children are aged 16, 14 and 10. He wanted to see more of his family? I’m pretty sure his wife Annette doesn’t want
to see him ever again.
Now that the Lauer chair is open, the Today Show can hire Keith Olbermann to provide upbeat morning banter and psychotic meltdowns— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) November 29, 2017
First Charlie Rose, then Matt Lauer. Good thing George Stephanopoulos has experience in dealing with bimbo eruptions— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) November 29, 2017
"The @nytimes and @Variety had been investigating alleged misconduct by Lauer for several weeks" -- per @brianstelter, who also says he believes the New York Times will release a report later today https://t.co/NrNlx6KwV5— Rebecca Cardenas (@RebeccaWSMV) November 29, 2017
UPDATE
11-29-17 4:11 PM: The
in-depth investigation promised earlier this morning from Variety
has been published revealing the results of a two-month investigation with
dozens of interviews with current and former staffers.
The
New York Times exposé, also promised this morning, can be
found here.
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