On November 29th 2017, NBC terminated its contract with Matt(with no financial settlement) after an unidentified NBC female employee reported that Matt had s*xually assaulted her during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The employee went ahead to report that the assault continued after they got back to New York.
Responding to the accusations and others that followed, Matt expressed,
‘“my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions…some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed.”
Weeks later, Today production assistant Addie Zinone made accusations on Lauer, claiming that Lauer used his position to force her to have a sexual relationship with him and she could not refuse because her career was in the line.
Journalist Ronan Farrow, in his book Catch and Kill, revealed that Brooke Nevils(the previously unnamed former NBC News employee whose complaint contributed to Matt’s firing) reported that Lauer anally r*ped her in his hotel room while they were attending the Sochi Olympics in 2014.
Responding to the allegations, Matt claimed that he did not r*pe her and that the intimate act was consensual. He also claimed that he had never forced anyone to sleep with him and that they had had an affair for several months.
Did Matt’s Today co-anchor know about his sexual misconduct?
The Ann Curry Matt Lauer relationship, as reported, did not depict close friendship. Sources claim that the two barely spoke off-air.
The tension between the two rose even higher in 2012 when Ann Curry was abruptly fired from the show. Many speculated that the end of her career at Today was because of the differences she had with Lauer and because the two lacked chemistry. It was also speculated that she was dropped due to the low ratings, which was quite hard to believe seeing as she had worked on Today for 15 years.
She began co-hosting alongside Matt in 2011 and just a year later, was fired.
According to Ann Curry, in 2012, a woman approached her, telling her that Matt s*xually assaulted her. Ann then told NBC executives about his behaviour, an act that is assumed to be the cause of her firing.
In 2017, Ann Curry made it clear that she was not surprised by the allegations made against Matt.
It is clear to see that there is no love lost between Matt Lauer Ann Curry.
