Now, who loves to watch NBC Today? We all do watch… it is rather odd to say that it was our grandparents’ favorite show. NBC Today became the favorite family show equally famous in all age groups. It is an American news and talk morning television show that airs on NBC. The program first officially aired on January 14, 1952.
Now it holds the fifth position on the list of longest-running United States television series. Matthew Todd Lauer is considered the most beloved host of NBC, who hosted the show from 1997 to 2017. But all of a sudden, he was fired from the show. Why? Let’s find out…
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Matt’s Early Life And Education
Matthew Todd Lauer was born on December 30, 1957 in New York City, so he is basically New Yorker. His father, Jay Robert Lauer, was a bicycle-company owner and his mother, Marilyn Lauer, runs a boutique.
According to Matt Lauer, his father was Jewish, but he did not impose his religion on him, and now he desired to follow a spiritual path.
Now let’s talk about his career. According to sources, he studied at the school’s Scripps College of Communication, School of Media Arts and Studies.
But, he dropped from the institution in 1979 to pursue his career in Media and Journalism. However, he decided to continue his education and finally earned an undergraduate degree at age 39 in 1997 from Ohio University.
His Career
He started his career in 1980 by hosting several daily information and talk programs for different television channels. He also moves to different cities in search of work.
His career took a giant leap when he was chosen by the Kushner-Locke Company to host “Day in Court, the program was then renamed Trial Watch ran on the NBC network for two seasons. Due to his outstanding performance in this show, he was picked by the NBC directors to host the iconic “Today” show.
In 1992 Lauer joined NBC and became co-anchor of the early weekday news show Today in New York, aired from the network’s New York flagship station WNBC.
Then after a year, he started hosting “Live at Five” while leaving the show Today in New York. Laurel continued to host the show until 1996. In 1994 he joined Today Show full-time while still co-anchoring Live at Five. On January 6, 1997, Matt Lauer officially became the co-anchor of the Today Show.
Then he never looked back. Besides this, Laurer also hosted several different shows. From 1998 until 2011, he also hosted a segment called Where in the World is Matt Lauer? He visited various locations around the world and shared the importance of these locations with his viewers. The show came to an end due to US unstable conditions.
Famous Interviews
He interviewed famous personalities, including Prince William, Prince Harry, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, during his career. Hosting opening ceremonies of several Olympic Games and NBC’s live coverage of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade were also feathers in his cap.
Assaults Allegation
Now by hosting main events like the Olympics and Thanksgiving parade and meeting rich and influential people in America and worldwide. He even had the chance to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is an honor for an American Journalist.
So from here, you can imagine the life he was living. Not just this, he was equally famous among ordinary Americans, and his colleague loved to work with him. In 2016 Lauer had signed a new contract up to 2018, and according to reports, this contract was going to pay him $20 million a year.
Everything was running smoothly until November 29, 2017, NBC officially announced that they terminated the employment agreement with Lauer.
They took this harsh decision after his female colleague, an NBC employee, reported that Lauer had been sexually harassed when they recorded the Winter Olympics in 2014, which was in Sochi, Russia. She further claimed that that harassment continued after both returned to New York.
After this, several other female colleagues came forward and accused him of raping them. Linda Vester, who was a former NBC News correspondent, claimed that the NBC management already knew about him and everybody working in NBC knew that Lauer was dangerous.
Another former employee and Today production assistant, Addie Zinone, also made the accusation, mentioning that in June 2000, she had a consensual sexual relationship with Lauer.
Zinone further said that the relationship was an “abuse of power” on Lauer’s part because she wanted to turn down Lauer’s advances, but deep down, she knew that it would have hurt her career.
Ronan Farrow Investigation About Lauer
His sexual relationships further came to light when Ronan Farrow writes about different sexual encounters of Lauer in his famous book “Catch and Kill.” which was released in 2019.
Here you should remember that Farrow was the one who shed light on Harvey Weinstein’s assaults which played a significant role in ending Harvey’s career.
Ronan Farrow was also a former NBC employee. In his book wrote the complete story of this incident published a detailed interview of Brooke Nevils, the person who first accused Lauer of raping her during the Winter Olympics.
She said that she was tasked to record the Winter Olympics with former
Today co-anchor Meredith Vieira. , One night during their stay in Russia, while drinking at the hotel bar, they bumped into Lauer, who offered to join them. At the end of the night, Nevils was drunk and ended up going to Lauer’s hotel room twice. The second time he invited her back into her room. According to Nevils, Farrow writes, “had no reason to suspect Lauer would be anything but friendly based on prior experience.
Once she was in the room, Lauer pushed her against the door and started kissing her. Then he makes another move and pushes her onto the bed, “flipping her over, asking if she liked anal sex,” Farrow writes. “She said that she declined several times,” she asked him to stop, but he kept on doing it.
In the book, Farrow writes.
Lauer, she said, didn’t use a lubricant and further said,’ It hurt so bad. I remember thinking, Is this normal? Nevils further explained to Farrow: “It was nonconsensual in the sense that I was too drunk to consent,
It was nonconsensual in that I said, multiple times, that I didn’t want to have anal sex.
she says.
Furrow further said that things weren’t going back to normal for Brooke Nevils even when she returned from the trip. The book also told his readers that the dark episode of rape and assaulting women does not end with Nevil. He wrote,
What is not in dispute is that Nevils, like several of the women I’d spoken to, had further sexual encounters with the man she said assaulted her.,’ This is what I blame myself most for,'” she says to Farrow. “It was completely transactional. It was not a relationship.
Worst above all is that Nevil was frightened because Lauer had authority over her career. After her so-called relationship with Lauer ended, Nevils said she told “like a million people” about her situation with Lauer.
When the details were out in public, NBC former employee Lauer rejected the allegation and said that this book is just a stunt to get famous further, adding that he doesn’t want to be a part of this circus. He further wrote a letter to explain his side of the story and said,:
I had an extramarital affair with Brooke Nevils in 2014,” Lauer says. “It began when she came to my hotel room very late one night in Sochi, Russia. We engaged in a variety of sexual acts. We performed oral sex on each other, we had vaginal sex, and we had anal sex. Each act was mutual and completely consensual.
What Happened To Brooke Nevils After Accusing Mathew
We all know that even in America the Great, the women become suspicious in the eyes of society after accusing her predator. The same thing happened to Nevils. The book further tells us that Nevils’s work-life became hell for her. Even Nevils opens about it and says,.
She was made to sit in the same meetings as everyone else, discussing the news, and in all of them colleagues loyal to Lauer cast doubt on the claims and judgment on her.
According to Nevil,
The network proposed a script she would have to read, suggesting that she had left to pursue other endeavors, that she was treated well, and that NBC News was a positive example of sexual harassment.
Due to stress and pressure after the accusation, she tried to take her life several times, and she was admitted 21 times to the hospital. But our courageous Nevil said that she ‘lost everything her job, goals, and motivation and will continue to fight against Laurer.
During this whole time, Nevils, 35, also experienced weight loss due to tension and stress. She further blamed Laurer, who tried to silence her many times, but she stood firm. She further claimed that he is the perfect example of victim-blaming.
Life Of Matt Laurer After Termination
After this incident, he started maintaining a low life away from the media and attention. He said that he wants to spend more time with his family and second wife, with whom he had three children. Shortly after this allegation and termination, he released an official statement and said,
“My sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions.” He also stated that “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.”
However, in July of 2019, his second wife filed a divorce against him, and their divorce was finalized in September by a Suffolk County Supreme Court judge.
Details about their divorce were mentioned in the newspaper, which said that Lauer paid his wife Roque up to $20 million in a divorce and further mentioned that his wife now owns a horse farm, which they both owned the Hamptons. Shortly after the divorce, he starts dating marketing and public relations executive Shamin Abas.
They both were spotted together by media several times in Hamptons. So now Matt Lauer is living a pretty comfortable life with his new girlfriend.
