Name: Matt Lauer
Age: 61
Role: Anchor, NBC’s The Today Show
Accusations:
8 female co-workers have accused Lauer of workplace harrassment and assault, including rape. Dozens more have spoken of 2 decades of abuse of power and flagrant verbal sexual harassment.
Matt Lauer Accused of Sexual Harassment by Multiple Women (Exclusive), Variety, Nov 29, 2017, by Ramin Setoodeh and Elizabeth Wagmeister
Since the original story broke, there has been a great deal of additional reporting – much of it by Ronan Farrow at The New Yorker and for his book, Catch And Kill.
Brooke Nevils (whose name was originally kept from the public) filed a human resources complaint with NBC on Nov 28, 2019 that Lauer raped her anally in a hotel room, without consent and while she was too drunk to consent, while they were reporting on the Sochi Olympics together in 2014.
She herself didn’t use the word rape in her complaint; but in the session with NBC lawyers that night, Nevils’ lawyers walked her through a series of questions that allowed her to describe what happened to her as clearly fitting the legal definition of rape. All this is reported in Farrow’s book Catch and Kill, and is summarized in this interview with NBC.
The account is also detailed in this article https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8xwd3k/matt-lauer-allegedly-raped-an-nbc-news-colleague-at-the-sochi-olympics and in this one https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/matt-lauer-rape-nbc-ronan-farrow-book-catch-kill-1203364485/
Immediate Consequences:
Lauer was fired by the end of the HR meeting with Nevils and her lawyers in the wee hours of Nov 29. This left his former colleagues Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb to break the news to the viewing public at the start of the show that morning, just 3 hours after having learned of it themselves.
Fired from NBC on Oct 17, 2017 – see the tweet
Lauer’s Initial Response:
Statement of apology on Oct 17, 2017 – read his statement
Lauer’s Ongoing Responses:
In October 2019, Lauer issued a statement denying Nevils’ allegation (after it came back into the news as the result of the publication of Farrow’s book Catch and Kill), saying it was consensual. He went on to say the allegation is “categorically false, ignores the facts, and defies common sense,” and that it is all part of a scheme to promote Farrow’s book.
Here we would list 1, 2 or 3 articles that we as editors think most accurately and/or comprehensively captures what’s important about the set of allegations against this person. For each we include a one-paragraph summary.
Variety Magazine
conducted a 2-month investigation, during which many of Lauer’s current and past co-workers said the sexual harassment and assault was rampant. Read the story here
Need editorial summary
These are the 3 (5? 10? ) most ____ (notorious? Impactful? first???) of Matt Lauer’s accusers.
Click here {link} for the full list; as well as links to all the reporting about the accusers and their stories.
Anonymous Accuser #1
The accuser who catalyzed Matt Lauer’s firing remains anonymous, but it has been reported that his harassment and assault of her began while they were covering the 2014 Sochi Olympics together. She and her attorney brought her accusations to NBC’s HR department on Oct ___, 2017 and Matt Lauer was fired by the network within 48 hours.
More about Anonymous Accuser #1: {link}
Anonymous Accuser #2:
Another of Matt Lauer’s anonymous accusers is a subordinate who claims that after Lauer asked her to his office, he locked the door and bent her over a chair to have intercourse. She passed out during the incident and awoke on the floor, at which time Lauer called the nurse.
More about Anonymous Accuser #2: {link}
Addie Zinone
Present age: 41
Age at incident: 24
Role/relationship at incident: Production Assistant at NBC news
Accusation: an abuse of power that led to a month-long consensual relationship
Addie’s story: Variety.com by Ramin Satoodeh, Dec 14, 2017
More about Addie {link} so far the only thing I’ve found that would go on a “more” page is her video interview with Megyn Kelly – unless the link for more about Addie just goes to her section of the list of all the accusers, mentioned above??
Andrew Lack, the chairman of NBC News, released the following statement on ___: I can’t find a link to this statement – it would be better to do that than to print it here. Also I”m pretty sure this isn’t the full statement…
“Dear colleagues, on Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. 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.”
Today Show host Savannah Guthrie and guest host Hoda Kotb took the air later that day to read the statement and give their reaction to their viewers. See the video here.

Matt Lauer’s only response has been to release the following statement on Oct __, 2017:
There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions. To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry. As I am writing this, I realize the depth of the damage and disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC. Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly. Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul searching and I’m committed to beginning that effort. It is now my full time job. The last two days have forced me to take a very hard look at my own troubling flaws. It’s been humbling. I am blessed to be surrounded by people I love. I thank them for their patience and grace.
I can’t find a link to this statement – it would be better to do that than to print it here.
Ann Curry on CBS This Morning
Corey Feldman, on The Dr. Oz Show
I haven’t been able to find a clip of him actually on the show…
The New York Times, Nov. 29, 2917
By Ellen Gabler, Jim Rutenberg, MichaelM. Grynbaum and Rachel Abrams