If you could stop propping up rapists and murderers that would be great @people https://t.co/VvFLKVUO3j
— celebitchy (@celebitchy) November 29, 2018
When I feel stressed at work I watch the Apple screensaver or nature videos with the sound off and chillwave in the background. I run it on another monitor and focusing on beautiful scenery helps me not have a bowl of Half Baked for breakfast. (I ate ice cream a lot last fall when the MeToo stories were breaking, although Kaiser was covering most of them.)
Trigger warning
Thanks for listening to me complain about writing about celebrities for a living. Here’s Matt Lauer, crying into his tens of millions of dollars after he was outed as a serial rapist and after he forced more competent, less equitably paid coworkers out of their jobs for speaking out against him. NBC finally fired Lauer last year although his abuse was thought to be known to them for years. The “allegations” were damning and included the fact that Lauer raped a woman until she fell unconscious and that he had a button under his desk to lock the door so that he could more easily trap victims in his office. Sure though, let’s check in on how Lauer is doing, shall we?
A year after being fired from NBC over alleged sexual misconduct, Matt Lauer is living a quiet life away from the spotlight.
A source tells PEOPLE the disgraced news anchor has struggled to come to terms with his new normal.
“It has been hard for him. He went from being a super busy person to having nothing but time on his hands,” the source close to Lauer tells PEOPLE. “He is not doing well.”
The longtime news anchor, who was fired from the Today show in November 2017, “is not thinking about working again right now.”
“He doesn’t sit around thinking about a comeback,” adds a second source.
Instead, Lauer is focusing all his attention at home — with his children.
“He’s trying to get by putting all his energy into his kids,” says the source. “He is working on his relationship with his kids. They have a good relationship, but they’ve been through a lot.”
Lauer should be in JAIL for the rest of his life for what he’s done. Instead he’s getting sympathetic pieces in People about how he’s doing. What about his victims, People? What about the women whose lives and careers he ruined? I shouldn’t be surprised People is doing this, they’re also running multiple stories a day about murderer Chris Watts who slaughtered his entire family. I’m sure true crime stories are popular and I deliberated for a moment about whether to call People out for this, but it’s despicable. They’re running his family photos as if he deserves publicity. This only teaches sociopaths and murderers that they too can become famous. Can we just call rapists and murderers what they are? There’s only so long I can get distracted by drone footage of the Golden Gate Bridge before I start wanting to scream and break things.
In case you’re wondering if things are better at NBC for women who work there, we have Hoda and Savannah killing it, but the culture is said to be just as bad. Linda Vester, a former NBC News correspondent who was assaulted by Lauer, told Variety that “The women who speak to me say the climate of fear is worse than ever, the silencing is worse than ever.”
Read the comments on this tweet. (Click on the time and date to see them.)
One year after being fired from the 'Today' show, Matt Lauer is looking for a fresh start. https://t.co/yUCHpe1kyU
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) November 29, 2018
NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS
“Inside Matt Lauer’s Life 1 Year After Sexual Misconduct Scandal (Exclusive)” pic.twitter.com/AozH3vtoVK
— Jenny Yang 👲🏼👲🏼👲🏼 (@jennyyangtv) November 29, 2018
We don't need an update on Matt Lauer. He's rich. He sexually harassed women.
He's doing better than his victims.— Laurie Crosswell (@lauriecrosswell) November 29, 2018
Simply pathological—People magazine runs a long, how-is-he-coping?! sympathetic EXCLUSIVE on serial sexual harasser—and rich beyond all measure—Matt Lauer, talking all about HIS "struggle" and how HE "is not doing well." pic.twitter.com/phwe7IdGCr
— Reed F. Richardson (@reedfrich) November 29, 2018
I know People is widely considered a cut above competing outlets/publications, but they really are just as sleazy and all of this is the final straw for me. Here’s a good Buzzfeed Reader piece on Watts that puts all of the coverage he is receiving into perspective: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pdominguez/chris-watts-scott-peterson-killer-husbands-true-crime
Thanks for the link, really good piece. “These men become perverse celebrities, partly because they are, of course, still alive — but also because their crimes can be framed as cautionary tales about evil sociopaths, that don’t require a reckoning with, for instance, the real effects of toxic masculinity and the violence it often leads to.”
Such a good point. Another one is that people don’t get outraged at all the inner city crime that occurs because they see that as “normal.” So depressing. No wonder we’re so effed up as a society.
If Lauer and Watts were non-white their stories would be presents completely differently.
People WAS “reputable” as far as these things go. For the last 10-15 years, they haven’t run anything that wasn’t paid for by someone’s PR time, I think.
“He has a lot of time on his hands.”
It’s called a hobby, Matt. Lots of us have them.
Also, to your point about the “true crime stuff” – it bothers me too, for multiple reasons. One thing that gets me is that almost all “true crime” focuses on crimes committed against white women. That’s part of why Shannen Watts’ death is so compelling – attractive, suburban white wife and mother – it sells to the target audience. Women (and people) of color, low-class people, and general less “desirable” people almost never receive such coverage, even if their cases are equally as compelling.
I guess there is more than one way of being disgusted by true crime stuff – I like hearing the stories, but some of this stuff swerves right on into pron. It’s almost like snuff films. I wish that there was better reportingand coverage of all the victims you listed, but I also wish that people weren’t so ghoulishly and pruriently interested in these stories.
Thanks for the source, Celebitchy. Yahoo linked to a story but I didn’t see the source to whom I could direct my bile about this. People is getting a hard copy piece of my mind.
Yes, true! I seem to remember this phenomenon happening (or maybe I just started to notice it) with the murder of Laci Peterson. Internet news/gossip was just getting going then, however.
Unless, the victim is a relatived to a famous personality, ie, football player, actor, etc. Then that victim gets news coverage like crazy. It’s appalling that so many Native American women are disportionately not seen as news worthy also. There has been an incredible number of NA women missing on reservations and on non reservations that are not reported or investigated. Women that are POC or other non white victims are not promoted in the news media or in print news. It’s unacceptable and needs to stop. Every woman, no matter her socioeconomic standing, ethnicity or choice of employment should be discarded and not reported. I am adding employment due to the fact that the murders of prostitutes are not taken seriously, whereas they are one of the most vulnerable since they are looked down upon.
I am referring to the BuzzFeed piece and the Watts and Peterson coverage, obviously.
Funny how “too much time” can sometimes really be one of the worst punishments.
Does People have a huge angry white man readership I didn’t know about?
Just to be clear on this the editorial staff of People, Entertainment Tonight, and Matt Lauer can all go to hell. There is lots of room.
You know I haven’t watched ET in years and I’m realizing there’s no need to click on People’s webpage. None. May they all disappear.
That is seriously disgusting. He’s “struggling” because he assaulted women at work. People magazine is actually trying to make him appear sympathetic?! Wtf.
Where’s the update about how the victims are doing.
EXACTLY. I was enraged when I saw this yesterday. Shame on People.
Stop trying to make a comeback, Lauer. Go away!
Dear People Magazine, WE don’t care about Lauer or his pitty party parade. May he roast in Hell with the rest of his sexual predator friends, Moonves, Cosby, Rose and the list goes on…speaking of Moonves, WTF is his wife doing with him? I can’t wrap my brain around that.
I 100% believe the part about silencing being worse than ever. I think there are people who think a couple of big name people getting in trouble (Cosby, Weinstein, Lauer) as examples is enough. It’s not. This is still going on everywhere at all levels.
I am still amazed, but not really that Andrew Lack still has a job. In any diagram, he is the central point.
This reminds me of the sympathetic pieces that were out there about how Bill Cosby is not doing well in prison. Yeah, that’s what happens to serial rapists.
Sickening. I completely agree that Matt Lauer should be in jail for what he’s done.
“Time on his hands”. My ass!
At no point will I forget the awful things he’s done, he should be shunned completely.
Tiniest of violins, etc.
Thank for this article CelebitchyI! I appreciate learning about how the media that is marketed to me is being used as a tool of oppression. I find it helps me to think with a clearer head. I would also like to learn more about how to help victims and their families.
@ HAPPY_FAT_MAMMA-love your name 😆
I too appreciate learning how the media, which I used to eagerly consume (not sure if that’s the right word) and fall for hook, line and sinker is eagerly COMPLICIT in manipulating and shaming anyone and everyone that doesn’t fit their narrow view of normal/desirable.
Sorry for the run-on sentence; I’m too angry to think clearly. Fuck all of the perpetrators and DOUBLE fuck the people who cover it all up & allow this unspeakable horror to continue.
May they all burn in hell.
Obviously he is “struggling” with not having and abusing power over others. And who the f even cares for an update on him?
Boo effing hoo.
There’s a reason Michael K and his writers at DListed refer to People mag as Kneepads . . .
lol. love it.
Lauer is utterly vile. Don’t give a rats ass how he is “coping”.
“He is not doing well.”
GOOD.
People mag is garbage, this Matt lauer story is just another layer of the shit pile.
I get that true crime stories are captivating, but the amount of attention Chris watts is getting is disgusting. If they want to talk about it, maybe focus on the innocent woman and children that he murdered. I’m sick of seeing his face.
This is why I’m so grateful for this site, the writers, commenters, caliber of discussions, an oasis on this long trek through dreck we find ourselves on…
May he burn in hell and I hope an undeserved sympathy feature in People magazine is one of the steps along the way.
Got a lot of time on his hands, eh??? I wonder if he volunteers for charities or coaches his kids’ teams, or tries to help people in any way? There’s a lot of options to fill time up and contribute!
How are his victims coping? Are they “struggling” too? FFS.
This guy is not worth the paper this trash is printed on.
Thanks for calling them out on it Celebitchy.
Totally agree
Yes, thank you for calling them on it. It’s despicable.
This burns me up. I was sexually assaulted by a very well known politician turned TV news show host when I was 21 and he was 53. I was an intern on his show and the assault was premeditated. As in I was told to attend a group meeting except he invited no one else and locked the door then attacked me.
I still have to see this fucker on TV and I am now 47 and he’s almost 80. Still makes me simultaneously nauseated and angry when I’m flipping through channels and he’s on the screen yapping away self-righteously.
So I don’t really care that Matt Lauer is not doing well one year later. I’m more worried about how his victims are faring.
It’s so heartbreaking how quickly media outlets are attempting to normalise Mat Lauer with good PR.
Ugh, I so agree with this. I work in a media outlet and the other day some of my journalist colleagues pretty much accused me of censorship because I said we shouldn’t give a platform to rapists trying to tell their sob stories about how their life went down the drain because their crimes became public.