Former NBC TODAY anchor Matt Lauer engaged in sexual harassment against several female coworkers over the years, according to a report Wednesday in Variety.
According to the publication, Lauer once gave a sex toy to a colleague along with an explicit note and also dropped his pants in his office in front of another female employee, exposing his penis.
Variety says it has been investigating accounts of Lauer’s behavior over the past two months and claims to have interviewed dozens of current and former staffers, including three women who identified themselves as victims of sexual harassment by the news anchor.
“There were a lot of consensual relationships, but that’s still a problem because of the power he held,” says a former producer who knew first-hand of these encounters. “He couldn’t sleep around town with celebrities or on the road with random people, because he’s Matt Lauer and he’s married. So he’d have to do it within his stable, where he exerted power, and he knew people wouldn’t ever complain.” -- VARIETY
NBC News chairman announced Wednesday that Lauer was fired following a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Lauer. Lack’s statement said it was the first complaint against Lauer in 20 years, but “we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.”
NBC has not verified Variety’s report.
