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Matt Lauer Accuser Speaks out in Ronan Farrow’s New Book

By Jim Windolf, John Koblin and Rachel Abrams
New York Times
October 9, 2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/09/business/media/matt-lauer-ronan-farrow-book.html?te=1&nl=morning-briefing&emc=edit_NN_p_20191010§ion=whatElse?campaign_id=9&instance_id=12972&segment_id=17739&user_id=666ca9e29224becd08cf52d4ff4d788a®i_id=96406860ion=whatElse

The revelations prompted a denial from Mr. Lauer, the former “Today” host. His accuser, Brooke Nevils, called the response “victim shaming.”

Ronan Farrow at Cipriani Wall Street in New York in May.

For more than 20 years, Matt Lauer was a star anchor of NBC’s most profitable franchise, “Today.” His downfall came in November 2017 when the network fired him after receiving a complaint of sexual misconduct against him. The accusation was soon followed by others.

Now, the circumstances of that firing have resurfaced in a book by the investigative journalist Ronan Farrow that contains new details from Mr. Lauer’s primary accuser, including her account of a rape. The book, “Catch and Kill,” is expected to be released on Tuesday.

The accuser provided an account of her interactions with Mr. Lauer to The New York Times nearly two years ago, but said she was not willing to go public with her story at the time. On Wednesday, Variety reported that Mr. Farrow had secured an on-the-record interview with the woman, Brooke Nevils, who allowed the author to name her.

Ms. Nevils gave Mr. Farrow a detailed description of an encounter with Mr. Lauer, which took place when the network was covering the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Mr. Lauer anally raped Ms. Nevils, she told Mr. Farrow.

Mr. Lauer denied the allegation in a letter provided by his lawyer on Wednesday.

“In a new book, it is alleged that an extramarital, but consensual, sexual encounter I have previously admitted having was in fact an assault,” Mr. Lauer wrote. “It is categorically false, ignores the facts and defies common sense. I had an extramarital affair with Brooke Nevils in 2014. It began when she came to my hotel room very late one night in Sochi, Russia. We engaged in a variety of sexual acts. We performed oral sex on each other, we had vaginal sex, and we had anal sex. Each act was mutual and completely consensual.”

Ms. Nevils later responded to Mr. Lauer’s letter, calling it “a case study in victim blaming,” in a statement published by NBC News.

“There’s the Matt Lauer that millions of Americans watched on TV every morning for two decades, and there is the Matt Lauer who this morning attempted to bully a former colleague into silence,” Ms. Nevils said. “I am not afraid of him now, regardless of his threats, bullying, and the shaming and predatory tactics I knew he would (and now has) tried to use against me.”

Little, Brown, the publisher of “Catch and Kill,” had no comment.

 

 

 

 

 




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