Brooke Nevils, the former NBC employee who accused fired Today show co-host Matt Lauer of raping her, says his statement of denial of her accusations constitutes “victim blaming.”
Her allegations are detailed in a new book, Catch and Kill, by journalist Ronan Farrow. She claims he forced her to have anal sex in a hotel room after a night of drinking in Sochi, Russia, where they covered 2014 Olympics. She said, “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.”
Lauer, who NBC News had fired in 2017 over alleged sexual misconduct, said in a lengthy statement on Wednesday that he and Nevils had had consensual sex and that the two continued an affair back in New York while he was married. His wife has since divorced him.
“There’s the Matt Lauer that millions of Americans watched on TV every morning for two decades, and there is the Matt Lauer who this morning attempted to bully a former colleague into silence,” Nevils said in a statement to NBC News, in response to Laure’s denial of her allegations. “His open letter was a case study in victim blaming… I am not afraid of him now, regardless of his threats, bullying, and the shaming and predatory tactics I knew he would (and now has) tried to use against me. The shame in this story belongs to him.”
“Today, nearly two years after I was fired by NBC, old stories are being recycled, titillating details are being added, and a dangerous and defamatory new allegation is being made,” Lauer wrote in his statement. “All are being spread as part of a promotional effort to sell a book.”
In his statement, Lauer claimed that he eventually ended his relationship with Nevils by stopping communications with her and that she continued to reach out to him.
“I attempted to go back to my life and pretend as if nothing had happened. I understand how that must have made her feel,” he said. “However, being upset or having second thoughts does not give anyone the right to make false accusations years later about an affair in which they fully and willingly participated.”
In the book, Nevils claimed she was terrified over the control she believed Lauer had over her career. In his statement, Lauer said, “At no time during our relationship did Brooke work for me, the Today show, or NBC News,” he said. “She worked for Meredith Vieira…in a completely different part of the network, and I had no role in reviewing Brooke’s work.”
Elder Ordonez / Splash News
Following news about the accusations made against Lauer in Farrow’s book, NBC News said in a statement, “Matt Lauer’s conduct was appalling, horrific and reprehensible, as we said at the time. That’s why he was fired within 24 hours of us first learning of the complaint.” In addition, Today show co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotbexpressed support for Nevils on the air.
NBC News had fired Lauer in 2017 after it received a “detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior.” His termination came amid a string of sexual assault accusations made against powerful men in Hollywood and the media, notably disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein.
“I knew what kind of person Matt Lauer was when I made the decision to report him to NBC in November 2017, and I knew what kind of a person he was when I made the decision to tell my story to Ronan Farrow,” Nevils said in her statement. “In both of those cases, I asked that my allegations be thoroughly investigated, and that Matt be given the opportunity to defend himself. I provided dates, times, evidence of communications, and corroborating accounts. Both NBC and Farrow found me credible.”
Shortly after his firing, Lauer, who had co-anchored the Today show for 20 years and was earning a reported $20 million a year, said in a statement, “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.” He also said 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.”
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)