“Today” show hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb reacted to the rape allegation against former co-host Matt Lauer during Wednesday morning’s episode of the show.
Guthrie and Kotb took time to address the allegation after the news segment ran on “Today.”
.@savannahguthrie and @hodakotb respond to new allegations about Matt Lauer pic.twitter.com/HsngSZd1NA
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 9, 2019
“I feel like we owe it to our viewers to pause for a moment,” Guthrie said after the show aired the allegation that Lauer raped a former NBC staffer back in 2014 at a hotel in Sochi.
“This is shocking and appalling,” Guthrie said.
“I know it wasn’t easy for our colleague Brooke to come forward then, it’s not easy now,” she added. “And we support her and any women who come forward with claims. It’s just very painful for all of us at NBC and who are at the ‘Today’ show.”
Brooke Nevils came forward in Ronan Farrow’s new book “Catch And Kill.” She detailed the encounter that reportedly led to Lauer’s firing back in 2017.
Even though everyone seemed shocked by Lauer’s exit from NBC, many close to the situation claimed that “everyone knew.” Nevils herself claimed she told “like a million people” after the affair with Lauer ended.
“I don’t know what everyone is so surprised by,” a high-level industry source told Vanity Fair at the time Lauer was fired. “This has been going on for months and months and everybody knew it and it was just going to be which girl came forward, and who reported it first.” (RELATED: Matt Lauer Denies Allegation He Raped Former NBC Staffer)
However, details of the alleged sexual misconduct might not have been as well-known as everyone thought.
“It’s like you feel like you’ve known someone for 12 years … you feel like you know them inside and out and all of a sudden, a door opens up and it’s a part of them you didn’t know,” Kotb said Wednesday morning. “We don’t know all of the fact in all of this but there are not allegations of an affair — there are allegations of a crime.”
“I think I speak for all of us — we’re disturbed to our core,” Guthrie added. “And we have a commitment to keeping you informed and we will continue to do that.”
As co-host of the #TodayShow Matt Lauer once gifted a colleague a sex toy with a note about how he wanted to use it on her https://t.co/O109CDcBAb pic.twitter.com/RtCuEv8ZvI
— Variety (@Variety) December 2, 2017
After Lauer was fired in 2017 over sexual misconduct, many women came forward detailing accounts of sexual harassment.
In one instance reported by Variety, a female colleague claimed she had once been gifted a sex toy by Lauer with a note that detailed how the former NBC host wanted to use it on her. Another colleague claimed she had been asked to go to Lauer’s office where he allegedly dropped his pants in front of her, showing her his penis. When she didn’t engage in any sexual act, he reportedly reprimanded her.
Executives at NBC News heard whispers about investigations into alleged inappropriate relationships between Lauer and bookers or producers from outlets such as the New York Times and Variety before the formal complaint was lodged and confronted Lauer, Variety reported at the time of his firing.
The executives reportedly asked “if there was anything that he thought [they] should know or could fit into this category, and he adamantly denied that there was.”