NBC’s Today has addressed the rape allegations against former co-host Matt Lauer that are reportedly detailed in Ronan Farrow’s new book, Catch and Kill.
Overnight on Tuesday, Variety reported that Catch and Kill features an interview between Farrow and former NBC News employee Brooke Nevils, who alleges that Lauer anally raped her at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. Her complaint against Lauer led to his firing from NBC in 2017. Nevils’ identity was kept anonymous at the time at her request; this is the first time the details of her allegations are being made public.
“It was nonconsensual in the sense that I was too drunk to consent,” Nevils told Farrow, per Variety. “It was nonconsensual in that I said, multiple times, that I didn’t want to have anal sex.”
Farrow’s book also says that after Lauer’s firing, Nevils learned that Noah Oppenheim, president of NBC News, and Andrew Lack, chairman of NBC News and MSNBC, “were emphasizing that the incident hadn’t been ‘criminal’ or an ‘assault.'” Nevils eventually took medical leave and a seven-figure payment.
Lauer’s reps did not immediately respond to TV Guide’s request for comment.
NBC News’ Morgan Radford addressed Variety‘s report on Today on Wednesday morning, followed by a response from anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.
“I feel like we owe it to our viewers to pause for a moment,” Guthrie said. “This is shocking and appalling, and I honestly don’t even know what to say about it. I want to say that I know it wasn’t easy for our colleague Brooke to come forward then, it’s not easy now, and we support her and any women who have come forward with claims. And it’s just very painful for all of us at NBC and who are at the Today show, and, you know, it’s very, very, very difficult.”
Kotb then recalled their first broadcast following the news of Lauer’s firing in 2017. “We don’t know all the facts in all of this, but they’re not allegations of an affair, they’re allegations of a crime, and I think that’s shocking to all of us here who have sat with Matt for many, many years,” Kotb said. “I think we’re going to continue to process this part of this horrific story. And as you said, our thoughts are with Brooke. It’s not easy what she did to come forward. It’s not easy at all.”
See Today‘s full report and Guthrie and Kotb’s responses below.
.@savannahguthrie and @hodakotb respond to new allegations about Matt Lauer pic.twitter.com/HsngSZd1NA
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 9, 2019
Source : TVGuide
