Matt Lauer's life has been turned upside down today after he was fired from his hosting duties on NBC's Today show since being accused of sexual misconduct with a former employee.
“While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over 20 years he’s been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident," the studio's president, Andrew Lack, said in a statement.
Since the news broke this morning, Variety has now published a piece where more women have come forward with stories to tell about their encounter with the talk show host. The publication notes a chilling detail on how Matt had a button under his desk that allowed him to lock his office door from his seat. Two women tell Variety that he used the button to lure in female employees and initiate inappropriate acts, leaving zero chance on someone walking in. One act, in particular, was when he locked a woman in his office and dropped his pants showing her his penis.
Another woman says Matt gave her a sex toy as a present with a note that detailed how he wanted to use it on her.
“There were a lot of consensual relationships, but that’s still a problem because of the power he held,” a former producer explains. “He couldn’t sleep around town with celebrities or on the road with random people, because he’s Matt Lauer and he’s married. So he’d have to do it within his stable, where he exerted power, and he knew people wouldn’t ever complain.”
More women tell the publication that Matt would invite colleagues to his hotel room in the various cities they would cover the Olympics. They say his inappropriate conduct with the staffers was no secret but the management was bad and "they protected the shit out of [him]."
“There is such shame with Matt Lauer not liking you,” an unnamed former employee says. “I did this special with him and we are traveling and I had a cold sore on my lip and I heard him say to Bryant Gumbel, ‘She has this really ugly cold sore on her lip,’ like that was something to be ashamed of. He was just really cruel.”
