Matt Lauer has received his pink slip.
On Wednesday, Lauer’s (now former) Today show cohost Savannah Guthrie announced that Matt had been fired following a detailed complaint that accused the TV personality of “inappropriate sexual behavior.” Man, oh man.
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Guthrie started out Wednesday’s show by reading a statement from NBC News chairman Andrew Lack:
“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.”
Intense stuff. Guthrie continued with Lack’s announcement:
“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 ├óΓé¼ΓÇ£ and do it in as transparent a manner as we can. To that end, Noah and I will be meeting with as many of you as possible throughout the day today to answer your questions.”
Well, that’s that. Unsurprisingly, Guthrie was obviously shaken up about Matt’s overnight ousting. Still, alongside Hoda Kotb, the celebrated journalist tackled the unsavory news head on. Following the chairman’s words, the 45-year-old anchor relayed:
“We just learned this moments ago, just this morning. As I’m sure you can imagine, we are devastated and we are still processing all of this. And I will tell you right now, we do not know more than what I just shared with you. But we will be covering this story as reporters, as journalists. I’m sure we will be learning more details in the hours and days to come, and we promise we will share that with you.”
What a terribly uncomfortable situation this is for the entire NBC News family. She added:
“We are heartbroken. I’m heartbroken for Matt ├óΓé¼ΓÇ£ he is my dear, dear friend and my partner, and he has been loved by many, many people here. And I’m heartbroken for the brave colleague who came forward to tell her story, and any other women who have their own stories to tell.”
Thankfully, Guthrie has since promised to be “transparent” as she plans to continue covering Matt’s firing. As for Hoda, she dubbed the current situation a “tough morning,” and noted:
“It’s hard to reconcile with what we are hearing with the man who we know, who walks in this building every single day. We were both woken up with the news, kind of pre-dawn, and we’re trying to process it and trying to make sense of it ├óΓé¼ΓÇ£ and it’ll take some time for that.”
So sad. Be sure to check out the firing announcement in its entirety for yourself (below)
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. pic.twitter.com/1A3UAZpvPb
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 29, 2017
[Image via WENN.]
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