More allegations continue to surface about former Today show anchor Matt Lauer. With the release of Ronan Farrow’s book Catch and Kill, more accusations of sexual misconduct have come out against the former host.
Matt, 61, was fired from NBC in 2017 after his alleged misconduct was first reported. He said at the time, “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.”
In Ronan’s book, former NBC employee Brooke Nevils accused Matt of raping her during the Sochi Olympics in 2014. She claimed they ended up having further sexual encounters. She went to NBC with this allegation right before Matt was fired.
Matt claimed in an open letter to Variety earlier this month that they had an ongoing, consensual sexual relationship and that he did not rape her.
In Catch and Kill, Ronan wrote that Matt also exposed himself to former Today show booker Melissa Lonner. She claimed that Matt asked to see her in his office after a party at 30 Rock.
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“Then, she told the colleagues, he unzipped his pants and exposed his erect penis,” Ronan wrote. “When she rejected him, he allegedly got angry and said, ‘Melissa you’re a f**king tease.’”
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Matt’s attorney told
The Hollywood Reporter, “Matt never exposed himself to anyone. This ridiculous story has been shopped around for years. Many allegations that are being circulated were never raised during any fact-checking process.”
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Melissa allegedly confided in
Ann Curry at the time. “It was as close as you could get to a woman just melting in front of you in pain,” Ann, who left
Today in 2012, told Ronan. Ann told two senior executives what happened, though she did not tell them the name of the employee involved.
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In April 2018,
Ann told The Washington Post that she had previously reported an allegation of sexual harassment involving Matt, without naming the woman. It’s not clear if she was indicating the same incident.
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An anonymous woman who appeared on-air at NBC also
came forward in the new book and claimed that Matt and an NBC executive made unwanted advances toward her before she left in 2012.
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“I was like a hanging piece of meat,” she said in the book. “I would walk into work with a knot in my stomach. I would come home and cry.” Matt and the executive reportedly made “lewd remarks” about her “over open mics” during broadcasts. She also had messages from them that she said were “propositions.”
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She told Ronan that, when she rebuffed their advances, she was “punished.” “My career took a nosedive,” she said. She claimed she signed a non-disclosure agreement when she left the network.
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In the original 2017 report from
Variety about Matt’s conduct, an employee alleged that he once gave a coworker a sex toy as a present, including an explicit note about using it on her.
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Photo credit: MEGA
He also allegedly questioned female producers about which of their colleagues they wanted to sleep with.
“Then, she told the colleagues, he unzipped his pants and exposed his erect penis,” Ronan wrote. “When she rejected him, he allegedly got angry and said, ‘Melissa you’re a f**king tease.’”
Photo credit: INSTARImages
Matt’s attorney told
The Hollywood Reporter, “Matt never exposed himself to anyone. This ridiculous story has been shopped around for years. Many allegations that are being circulated were never raised during any fact-checking process.”
Photo credit: INSTARImages
Melissa allegedly confided in
Ann Curry at the time. “It was as close as you could get to a woman just melting in front of you in pain,” Ann, who left
Today in 2012, told Ronan. Ann told two senior executives what happened, though she did not tell them the name of the employee involved.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
In April 2018,
Ann told The Washington Post that she had previously reported an allegation of sexual harassment involving Matt, without naming the woman. It’s not clear if she was indicating the same incident.
An anonymous woman who appeared on-air at NBC also
came forward in the new book and claimed that Matt and an NBC executive made unwanted advances toward her before she left in 2012.
“I was like a hanging piece of meat,” she said in the book. “I would walk into work with a knot in my stomach. I would come home and cry.” Matt and the executive reportedly made “lewd remarks” about her “over open mics” during broadcasts. She also had messages from them that she said were “propositions.”
She told Ronan that, when she rebuffed their advances, she was “punished.” “My career took a nosedive,” she said. She claimed she signed a non-disclosure agreement when she left the network.
In the original 2017 report from
Variety about Matt’s conduct, an employee alleged that he once gave a coworker a sex toy as a present, including an explicit note about using it on her.
He also allegedly questioned female producers about which of their colleagues they wanted to sleep with.
