There was a lot of information that came out about Matt Lauer as he was fired from NBC in November 2017 and more info came out afterwards. I’ve always thought that once Lauer was fired, women at NBC finally felt safe enough to start telling their stories (internally at NBC, or anonymously in interviews) without it leading to huge career repercussions, because that’s how much power Lauer had within NBC up until he was fired. Very few people could say anything about him to anyone. That being said, there were always rumors. Rumors of “affairs” and rumors of his sh-tty marriage and rumors of his treatment of female colleagues. This Page Six story reads like a blind item but I’m not going to be gross – this poor woman’s career was destroyed because she didn’t want to be Matt Lauer’s meat.
Disgraced “Today” anchor Matt Lauer allegedly had an affair with a famed and well-respected broadcaster, Page Six is exclusively told, representing a “clear imbalance of power.” The woman signed a nondisclosure agreement when she left NBC.
We have agreed not to name the broadcaster at her request, but a TV source said: “Matt had influence over everyone’s career — one word and your career would be sunk. I know there was a clear imbalance of power in this woman’s relationship with Matt.”
In his new book, “Catch and Kill,” Ronan Farrow also claims Lauer repeatedly harassed a fellow on-air NBC personality, who was allegedly forced to sign a strict NDA when she left the network in 2012. It’s not clear if it’s the same woman we’ve learned about. Farrow reports that the unnamed former NBC broadcaster claimed Lauer and another NBC exec propositioned her and made lewd comments about her during broadcasts. She said, “I was like meat on a hook … I would walk into work with a knot in my stomach. I would come home and cry.”
She alleged that when she turned the men down, she was “punished” and got fewer assignments, adding: “My career took a sharp nosedive.” Although she didn’t make a formal report to HR, she did tell colleagues. When she left, NBC forced her to sign a nondisclosure agreement that waived her right to sue and banned her from making disparaging comments about the network, the book states.
I think I know who it is, if it’s the same woman in Page Six’s story and Ronan Farrow’s story. But the thing is, it actually sounds like about three women who all got pushed out of NBC years before Lauer was fired. Part of Lauer’s argument is now that he did NOT have that much power at NBC. Which is clearly bullsh-t – he walked around 30 Rockefeller like a king, and whoever wasn’t “in favor” with him got pushed out or punished by the executives.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
If this is Ann Curry and they made her announce her departure on air while sitting next to Matt Lauer….I don’t even have words.
Yup
Remember how during her farewell he tried to hug her and she was NOT having it? If it is her that moment is even uglier than we realized.
Ann, or Tamryn Hall, or Natalie Morales.
Natalie Morales – the rumor was he had an affair with her and then when he got tired of her Made her relocate to the west coast
It doesn’t matter which one; this sick guy had the say of too many women in the work place, infecting their careers and banishing them if they didn’t perform the proper way he chose. And, by performance we know what that may entail. Wasted talent on all fronts. He will never fully admit any of it, he’s a classic sociopath or narcissist with nothing left but to lie at this point because he does not care about redemption. He just has enough money where some idiot gold digger will believe him and he can say he never said he did anything wrong. He’s a Lance Armstrong type of douche. But worse, in many ways, of course. Both ruined careers blatantly and without remorse.
I remember there being blind items about it back then. People knew the situation was fishy af.
Didn’t Ann Curry leave in 2015? This says the person left in 2012. I could be wrong!
She left the Today show in 2012 and NBC in 2015. The awkward AF goodbye speech next to Matt Lauer was in 2012.
I looked on Wikipedia and Ann Curry was the only on-air personality who left NBC in 2012.
Edit: whoops. Apparently she wasn’t the only on-air woman who left in 2012.
Amy Robach left in 2012 and I thought something was floating around years ago about her and Matt, although earlier it was not put out there like an assault……Don’t know for sure, but typically of men like Matt, he could have done them all, or at least hit on them all constantly, including Meredith…….who knows.
That was who came to mind. If it’s her, it’s even worse than I thought..
I read Ann got fired because she confronted the NBC brass or him about his misdeeds. NBC kept her around after she left Today so it’s not her.
I believe her and all the brave women who have come forward. It is time for all of these women to be heard and for them to get justice!
Hopefully real justice, not the Epstein kind. I want these women to have their say and or day in court if possible. I want him alive for it.
If it is who I suspect it is then that would explain a LOT about their departure and the machinations around it.
I remember hearing rumors about Natalie Morales as well.
I was about to write this!
I remember hearing about Natalie and Matt as if it were a consensual thing, but given the uneven power between the two and Matt’s predatory behavior, add her to the list of his casualties. I feel so badly for these women who just wanted to go to work and not be harassed…
I always heard the same Noodle. The word “affair” is so wrongly used when it comes to him and the power dynamics and abuse.
Yep,Natalie went to California-she did what?Like,Hollywood gossip or something and since he’s been gone She back on air in NYC a lot.
The timing sounds like Ann Curry. But there’s also the longstanding rumor about his affair with Natalie Morales, who remained at NBC. Maybe both?
In any case the power dynamics make it all incredibly disturbing. He’s a complete pig.
Wasn’t Ann’s departure 2015/2016? That was some time after Soshi which was 2014. The timing is off.
Ann Curry left the Today show in 2012.
Really ???!!!! If seems like it was more recent.
I think it’s two different people. The quotes about having a knot in her stomach are from Ann, but I don’t think she’s the one who had the affair with him.
He truly is, yet more like a snake which I would prefer to slither back under the rock from whence he came. And that NBC would allow this snake to reign on the innocent and ruin the careers of so many women is unacceptable to me. They need to clean house at NBC since they not only allowed this to happen for years, but for forcing these victims to sigh NDA’s. Here in Texas, NDA’s aren’t worth the paper they are printed on in a majority of cases.
Unfortunately, I do not know most of these people, except Ann Curry, as I never watched the Today show.
I always heard rumors about him and Natalie morales.
Who is Natalie Morales? for $2000 please, Alex Trebek
Tho not sure on the timing re Natalie and I stopped watching after he screwed over Snn Curry, a True journalist.
Do you remember the story about Brad Pitt and Angelina wanting Ann to have the exclusive about one of their pregnancies (probably the twins), and Matt was ticked because he thought he should get it? I never knew if that was just gossip, but the new revelations do put some context behind it.
@ Noodle. Yep, I remember that and afterwards both Brad and Angie were very strict about who they would do interviews with. It was basically anyone but Lauer. Angie and Al Roker had a nice report when she was promoting Unbroken and I think he did a few more after that with her.
Interesting. I bet Lauer hit on Angelina over the years and she was like “no more”.
Don’t forget his gross comments to Anne Hathaway too. I bet he often used his position to hit on actresses and such.
IIRC, after Ann Curry left they did a couple of interviews with Tom Brokaw (who also ended up being accused of sexual harassment.) I think Matt Lauer was an open secret and they didn’t want anything to do with him.
I think he made inappropriate comments to Sandra Bullock too. There was a video floating around about that interview.
what’s also disturbing is how the NBC honchos kept covering his a$$ by forcing his victims to what seem very abusive NDA, disguised by normal procedure of termination. Those people need to be outed as well
@Clay, their legal department just put out pages of rebuttals to the claims in Farrow’s book. Pages. Unfortunately, it will probably take one of his victims to come forward with receipts to prove they are culpable. How they could NOT be culpable is beyond me.
And it will interesting to see if they are going to go into the ring with Farrow whose reporting has been absolutely top notch.
There is only one man who should be confident in what they are doing and it should not be anyone not named Roman Farrow.
If any of it was untrue, you’d bet NBC would file a lawsuit. The fact that they didn’t speaks volumes.
Watching the Ann Curry departure knowing what we know now, it’s like a horror movie.
And it’s also good to remember that – unless there’s something she’s keeping private – Ann wasn’t sexually harassed as much as she was bullied by Lauer and his bros – they made fun of her, berated her, etc. And that’s the thing about this toxic culture and the monsters who create it. It they want to F you, they will harass you about that. If they don’t want to F you (too old, not attractive enough for them, not their type), they will bully you another way. They don’t view women as fully formed people, just objects designed to serve them, or if you’re not hot enough, to get rid of.
Mumbles, this. All of this. I was commenting on the Renner/Pacheco situation, and men are encouraged to think like this. It’s why women are questioned when they fight for their freedom and that of their children. It’s why women are talked over, like Biden did to Warren last night. Most men think that women are like pets, that we are not fully human. I didn’t used to think this. Now NO ONE can convince me that is not true. We deal with it at work, standing in line at the grocery store, in social interactions, on the street. We normalize it, but it’s toxic.
It took a long time for me to meet a man who doesn’t think like that. A long, long time. I am so grateful for my husband. And he has entitlement issues, too, but he hears me and processes what I say. He has to be called out occasionally, too. This is cultural, and too many men don’t respect women as fully human because of entrenched paternalism
I remember the wide eyes my first boyfriend had when I very straightforwardly told him. “I, and all the women you have ever known, am a human being, just like you.” He had been going off about how I was not like the “other girls”. He told me he had never thought of women like that before.
I love this comment so much. Bravo. So much truth to this.
So true. It was a horror movie even back then – but NOW. NOW, just, ugh. How are the rest of us, in our dumb whatever jobs, supposed to get through this shit when famous, wealthy, and successful women are still getting demoralized, victimized, and harassed?
TQB, GIRL, I have no idea. I grew up poor, but I am privileged now, and this misogyny is everywhere..
Clare, ditto!!! Why do I have to explaining those shit to men??? These articles appear in The NY Times and no one reads them. Men wrote ignorant comments. I comment hoping to change some of their minds. I speak to every man I can about my story hoping that things change. Young, old, straight, gay: everyone. I do it for my daughter and the world she and her friends are inheriting.
It says the woman left the network in 2012, but I can’t find anyone that fits (Ann left the Today Show in 2012 but was with NBC through 2015).
It’s been reported that another woman there confided in Ann Curry, and she reported Lauer to executives, around 2012. And that’s when he had her kicked off the anchor desk. He’s lucky she didn’t stab him on live TV.
Natalie only left the Today Show’s NY base – not NBCUNIVERSAL, though. She’s spent most of the last few years on Access Hollywood (NBC property) and filling show biz reports to Today all along.
It was Natalie. Such an abusive ass.
Only 1 person that was in close proximity to Lauer completely left NBC in 2012… Amy Robach. It was in May 2012 that she jumped ship to ABC and Good Morning America.
Ann Curry’s situation with Today took place in 2012, but she stayed under contract as a contributor for another 2 1/2 years, seen rarely on Today with no contact with Lauer, or specials on MSNBC.
Natalie Morales relocated to the West Coast to cover show biz for Today but not until 2016, which is also when she took Billy Bush’s place on Access Hollywood – an NBC production. So she’s been with NBC this whole time.
Amy is the only one that seems to fit the description closely enough.
Was she married to Andrew Shue then? I know this is her second marriage but if she was married to her first husband during the Today years now we know part of the reason why that marriage ended.
I don’t think Ann would go near Lauer. They never seemed to like each other at all. But the time line only fits Ann. Hoo boy, if it’s her it sure explains a lot. Matt Lauer is a disgusting, scum sucking POS.
I’ll never understand why NBC thought he was so valuable in the first place.
OMG thank you. Even if you didn’t know he was a monster, he was always a creepy douchebag, completely devoid of charm. How was he EVER a morning host? It’s one thing to have a Charlie Rose, who successfully gaslit scores of people into not seeing his dark side. But who got duped by this creepo? JFC.
As a LONG TIME Today Show watcher, Matt was a lot better than Bryant Gumball who was a complete a$$ to his co-anchors and Willard Scott. I was so glad when he left. Matt was like a breath of fresh air to me when he came on. Too bad it was short lived and he ended up being an a$$ too..
@tw, they treat their male talent like the Golden Goose. They did it with Bryant Gumbel before him, and they did it with Matt Lauer. (I am not claiming Gumbel’s behavior to be consistent with Lauer’s, just that he was a major tool and was adored by brass until his departure.) Look at the longevity of the men on that show and network, and probably any network, really. Unless there is proof (like Billy Bush’s jovial acceptable and egging on of Trump on video), they will continue to protect men and replace the women. Women are expendable when they no longer serve their purpose.
UGH, you are so right. And the women are always pitted against each other. Deborah Norville forced out Jane Pauley, then was forced out by Katie. Until this all came up last week, I hadn’t realized how long Viera has been gone, or how long ago Natalie Morales has been hone. All of these women were talented, experienced journalists and NBC has used them as set decoration while protecting these jackasses. Gumbel WAS a tool. Lauer. Bush. Gross.
That’s because many of the top brass at NBC –including Andy Lack, Noah Oppenheim and Phil Griffin — are also sexual harassers. They protect their own. This from Ronan Farrow.
Because they’re just like him.
oops, double post
You guys, I think that the broadcaster is Maria Menounos. She left the network around 2011-2012. Natalie Morales is still doing special reporting for NBC.
This is a good guess, but I’m guessing Amy Robach who left Today and NBC in 2012.
I think you’re correct, Vanessa.
Amy Robach worked at WTTG in Washington, D.C., then came to MSNBC in 2003 where she spent four years, including a stint anchoring two hours in the morning, and filling in on Countdown with Keith Olbermann and Morning Joe. She was named co-anchor of Weekend Today in July 2007. Her last day on Weekend Today was May 19, 2012.,[6] when she announced she would be moving to ABC News.[1][6]
Page Six says “a famed and well-respected broadcaster” – not to be snide, but Maria M is neither of these things. 😛 Amy R. would more likely fit.
It’s revolting. I watched The Today Show for two decades? HellifIknow, but I was home with the kids, and that was my ‘every’ morning. When the planes leveled the towers, I was watching through that program. And I remember how furious I was concerning the handling of Ann. Granted, I didnt like her for every interview as she has a style. She’s far superior with in-depth coverage. Off the cuff isn’t her cup of matcha. In any case, I was furious for her and despised NBC.
Since around 2009, whenever we bought our first Roku, watching programmed television through cable and/or satellite began its exodus in our family. We became strictly streaming and strictly mobile devices. And when Ann left in 2015ish, I remember having to search the story and watch clips. Knowing about Matt now, everything that unfolded on that show historically was painted with entirely different brush strokes. It’s quite sickening and has been yet another reason I’m such a cynical pessimist with a tell-all resting bitch face.
I truly hope his life is shit, but I know it’s not. He’s walking around shaking his damn head at ‘pmsing women and their neurosis.’ He’s a far superior being who was simply expressing his aggressive love for the opposite sex. Barf. That whole glib-obtuse interview with crazy Tom Cruise takes on new meaning. Hell, all his narcissistic interviews do.
This is stomach churning. I really don’t have any words for this.
Natalie Morales is suspect but denies the rumors,. Now Maria Menunos makes a lot of sense.
On a kinda related note, Ronan Farrow was promoting his book on CBS This Morning a couple days ago, I think, and Gayle King was downright hostile towards him. He stood his ground while remaining calm and polite but when she said he was reporting on a “he said/ she said” basis, I wondered what had happened to the woman who admirably handled R. Kelly’s tantrum…
Oprah is friends with Weinstein, and very good friends with David Geffen. I always assumed the shoe was going to drop on Geffen as well. I’ve heard rumors for years about harassing young up-and-coming singers.
i think Gayle has a lot of unresolved feelings about the Charlie Rose situation, and I think it’s probably what lead to any issues with Nora O’Donnell (although I believe 75% of that was nonsense and sexist garbage about two powerful women). Nora was more openly disgusted and regretful about Rose.
At the same time, I watched the Farrow interview and I didn’t get the same hostility from Gayle AT ALL. I thought he question about “he said, she said” was intended to give Farrow the opportunity to talk about the evidence supporting the accuser’s story. Granted, there were screaming children in my kitchen at the time, but that’s how it read to me. The good and the bad of Gayle is that she doesn’t play her cards very close to her chest. If she feels a thing, she’s going to say it.
Maria M and Amy Robach are good guesses, too. It could never have been an affair tho; harassment yes for sure but can you imagine- like Amy R would rather f gross Lauer over Andrew Shue and Maria’d rather grab Lauer’s junk over her sweet kinda hot hubs?
Matt Lauer is so disgusting.
It’s Amy Robach I think. She left in 2012. Now it makes sense.
I think it is Amy Robach also.
I think you cracked it. She left in 2012 and went to ABC.
Another vote for Robach. I can’t believe people are guessing Curry. If anything, you could see she was disgusted by him even as she was working with him because I’m sure she knew he was a pig.
The affair with Morales I’m sure was consensual. Been hearing about that one for years.
Ann Curry? No way. There was never an iota of chemistry around them. She clearly always saw him for what he was.
Someone younger and less secure than Ms Curry seemed at the time.
Yeah agree, they hated each other. She’s also probably too old for him.
I never forgave him for what he did to Curry, but I didn’t even realize the extent of it. He is scum. That woman has some unimaginable strength.
See, this shit has contributed in spirit to trump’s “win.” Remember how Lauer was like a little lap dog, the beta male, to trump’s alpha? And how the little bald weasel f-cker condescended to and mistreated Hillary? It still makes my blood boil.
Yes, sing it, I will say it for the rest of my life and everyone i know is already sick of hearing me on it. But I don’t care. I will die mad about it! Hopefully Lauer goes first though!
My guess is Natalie Morales. There were rumors about them for years.
I got a tip from someone who worked at the time as an NBC page. This person claims it was, indeed, Maria Menounos, and that the staff knew it but were too afraid to say anything. She was interviewed for Ronan’s book, mentioning the CNBC big shot who passed around embarrassing paparazzi pics of her at a staff meeting. Totally adds up.
OMG. I didn’t know about this. I just googled it, and it was Phil Griffin. This is unbelievable. I knew what Ailes was doing over at Fox, but I didn’t really believe it was all of them? How is it I can still be shocked? I am shocked.
The problem with that is that what little involvement Maria has with Today goes too far back – 2007 and 2008, while she was working on other related NBCU productions like Access Hollywood. Then she spent a couple years on Extra, and then rejoined NBCUniversal in 2014 to work at E! Network, and stayed there until 2017.
The person described here is supposed to have left NBC in 2012. Maria’s career doesn’t line up with that at all. Not saying what you heard is false, but it goes back too far and she barely worked with Lauer anyway.
Maria’s career bio in here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Menounos
As I mentioned in another post, Amy Robach is just about the only notable person who the description matches – moves from NBC to ABC in May 2012.
Also notice how Ann was forced out about a month or so after Amy’s departure. What sad situation. I hope they get some closure.
Amy Rohrbach seems his type if it is her I hope she comes forward and tells her story. NDA be dammed you can’t unring the bell if it’s out there and NBC wouldn’t dare sue her. She is a cancer survivor. Natalie Morales seemed a willing participant for the career boost. And was happy to shove off when he was done with her.
Omg! Read the former co-reporter on Ronan Farrows big story for New Yorker, Rich McHugh. He just came out with a piece for Vanity Fair ALL about how NBC’s head honchos Andy Lack and Noam Oppenheim killed Ronan & his story – after Weinstein pressured NBC and threatened to reveal Lauer’s dirt. Then NBC lied it about for months, gaslit their own journalists because those NBC bosses were either creepy sexist predators or paying off creepy predators at NBC. It’s totally illuminating and insane!
Ann Curry didn’t have an affair with Matt, she had a female staffer confide to her about about Lauers abusive behaviour and then Ann got canned from Today after she warned NBC bosses about Matt’s inappropriate conduct to woman! It’s all so horrid. And NBC were basically a public relations company protecting in-house (and outside) predators