Matt Lauer’s sexual harassment problem was hiding in plain sight at NBC News

Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair’s Sarah Ellison reports that Lauer’s sexual harassment problem “was hiding in plain sight” in the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein story, which NBC News passed on -- one high-level source even says "everybody knew." For weeks, Ellison writes, NBC News executives “had been hearing rumors of stories being reported at Variety and The New York Times about Lauer’s alleged sexual relationships with NBC bookers and producers.” They even questioned Lauer about the rumors, which he adamantly denied. Ellison further explains that because Lauer was frequently followed by paparazzi, the only place he could engage in sexually inappropriate behavior was in his office or on the road. According to her reporting, there were “two groups of women that Lauer seemed to focus his attention on: interns, pages, and production assistants in charge of running scripts in the morning; and also bookers.” Ellison explains that Lauer’s downfall could’ve come from “any number of his current or former colleagues,” speculating, based on one source, that Megyn Kelly might’ve helped women come forward. (A person close to Kelly denies this is true.) “Similarly,” she adds, “NBC insiders saw the hand of Ann Curry, whom Lauer ousted, in his demise, and possibly even Billy Bush.” But neither could be reached for comment.

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