It was announced this morning that Matt Lauer, longtime host of the Today show on NBC, has been fired. The announcement came at the start of this morning’s program and was read by co-host Savannah Guthrie, who stated, “This is a sad morning here today and at NBC News.”
A statement from NBC Chairman Andrew Lack read:
‘On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company’s standards. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment. While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he’s been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.
‘Our highest priority is to create a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected, and to ensure that any actions that run counter to our core values are met with consequences, no matter who the offender. We are deeply saddened by this turn of events. But we will face it together as a news organization – and do it in as transparent a manner as we can.”
The “Today” show released a statement also which reads:
“Matt Lauer has been terminated from NBC News. On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment.”
Lauer has been a fixture at the Today show since he first appeared in 1992 as a news reader. He would later go on to be named a co-host in 1997 and has been a familiar face in morning news. Lauer’s dismissal comes at a time when claims of sexual misconduct have brought down the careers of well-known figures such as Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and others in 2017.
