Matt Lauer has been fired from NBC News following allegations of sexual harassment.
The news of his dismissal was broken by his Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie at the top of this morning’s (Nov. 29) program. Guthrie appeared to be struggling to keep her emotions in check as she read out a statement from NBC News chairman Andy Lack.
Lack wrote that NBC News received “a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace” on Monday night, and added that the company “were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident”.
Lauer has been part of the Today show since 1994, and was promoted to co-anchor of the morning news program in 1997. In his statement, Lack stressed that this was the first allegation of its kind to be made against the 59-year-old. He assured viewers that NBC News will deal with the matter “in as transparent a manner” as possible.
Following NBC News’ announcement, journalists at Variety and CNN suggested that media outlets had been working on stories about Lauer’s conduct in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump quickly responded to the news, taking the opportunity to criticize NBC for its reporting:
____________________________________________________________________________