(Nov. 13, 2017 – Source: NBC/NBCUniversal)
*Matt Lauer has fired back at Ronan Farrow’s upcoming book, “Catch and Kill,” in which former “Today” co-anchor Brooke Nevils tells a wild tale about the time her disgraced ex-colleague raped her.
In “Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators,” Farrow interviews the woman whose complaint about Lauer led to his “Today” show firing in 2017. Nevils’ identity was kept on the low until now, and this is the first time the full details of her allegations have been made public.
Ahead of the book’s release, Variety obtained a copy and reported on Nevils accusation that Lauer anally raped her in his hotel room in Sochi during the 2014 Winter Olympics. According to Nevils, Lauer pushed her onto the bed, allegedly “flipping her over, asking if she liked anal sex,” Farrow wrote of Nevils’ account. “She said that she declined several times.”
Farrow wrote she “was in the midst of telling him she wasn’t interested again when he ‘just did it’…Lauer, she said, didn’t use lubricant. The encounter was excruciatingly painful. ‘It hurt so bad. I remember thinking, Is this normal?’ She told me she stopped saying no, but wept silently into a pillow.” When Lauer allegedly asked if she liked it, she told him yes. Nevils claims she “bled for days.”
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I think Matt Lauer is a scumbag— as a father and husband. But I also think his accuser—a 30 yr old woman who clearly exchanged sex for favor and promotion at work is also a scum bag.
STOP the #metoo insanity. https://t.co/nIdo9BBlID— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 9, 2019
According to the book, per Variety, the two had additional sexual encounters in New York City — allegedly because she was scared about control Lauer had over her career.
In a newly released open letter, Lauer has defended himself against the allegation:
“Despite my desire to set the record straight and confront the individuals making false allegations, I wanted nothing less than to create more headlines my kids would read and a new gathering of photographers at the end of our driveway. So I decided to just stay quiet and work on repairing my relationship with the people I love. It has been the most important full-time job I have ever had. But my silence has been a mistake. 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. All are being spread as part of a promotional effort to sell a book. It’s outrageous. So, after not speaking out to protect my children, it is now with their full support I say ‘enough,'” Lauer began his lengthy letter. “In a new book, it is alleged that an extramarital, but consensual, sexual encounter I have previously admitted having, was in fact an assault. It is categorically false, ignores the facts and defies common sense.”
Lauer wrote there was “absolutely nothing” aggressive about their Sochi encounter and claimed Nevils “did not do or say anything to object. She certainly did not cry.”
.@savannahguthrie and @hodakotb respond to new allegations about Matt Lauer pic.twitter.com/HsngSZd1NA
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 9, 2019
On Wednesday, “Today” addressed the rape allegations leveled against Lauer, who was abruptly fired by NBC in November 2017 following Nevils claims of inappropriate sexual behavior at the workplace.
“I feel like we owe it to our viewers to pause for a moment,” Savannah Guthrie said during this morning’s broadcast. “This is shocking and appalling, and I honestly don’t even know what to say about it. I want to say that I know it wasn’t easy for our colleague Brooke to come forward then, it’s not easy now, and we support her and any women who have come forward with claims… It’s just very painful for all of us at NBC and who are at the Today show, and, you know, it’s very, very, very difficult.”
Co-anchor Hoda Kotb added, “I’m looking at you and I’m having a weird moment… We were sitting here just like this two years ago, and truth be told, Savannah and I did a little prayer upstairs just before, just to sort out what we were going to do, and I think it’s— it’s like you feel like you’ve known someone for 12 years — and I don’t know if you guys have ever felt like that — you know someone, you feel like you know them inside and out and then all of a sudden, like, a door opens up and it’s a part of them you didn’t know.
“We don’t know all the facts in all of this, but they’re not allegations of an affair, they’re allegations of a crime, and I think that’s shocking to all of us here who have sat with Matt for many, many years,” Kotb continued. “I think we’re going to continue to process this part of this horrific story. And as you said, our thoughts are with Brooke. It’s not easy what she did to come forward. It’s not easy at all.”
Guthrie concluded by noting, “We’re disturbed to our core… We have a commitment to keep you informed, and we will continue to do that.”
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