Matt Lauer may be out at NBC, but according to a new Washington Post report, some remain skeptical that the culture that allowed the sexual abuse to occur will really change at the network.
Especially since, at least according to one former network host, Lauer’s behavior was known to management since at least 2012.
Back in 2012, Ann Curry reported to management that an employee came to her claiming that one of NBC’s leading men was sexually harassing her.
That man was none other than Lauer.
According to a report, Curry — who left the network in 2015 — recalled that the tearful female staffer told her that she was “sexually harassed physically” by Lauer.
Curry said that the woman was fearful of losing her job.
“I believed her,” Curry said.
Curry then went to management.
“I told management they had a problem and they needed to keep an eye on him and how he deals with women,” she said.
Lauer, of course, continued with the network until 2017, when on he was fired.
At the time, NBC
According to Curry, that simply wasn’t true and in fact, NBC had a pervasive culture rife with sexual harassment. An NBC spokesperson told the Washington Post that there was no record of Curry’s warning, and pointed out that Lack was not at the network at the time.
“I can say that I would be surprised if many women did not understand that there was a climate of verbal harassment that existed,” Curry told The Daily Beast back in January. I think it would be surprising if someone said they didn’t see that. It was verbal sexual harassment.”
In the Daily Beast interview, Curry also implied that the abuse was not limited to Lauer.
Curry’s words of warning gained more traction when, just on Thursday, another report surfaced that Tom Brokaw forcibly kissed war correspondent Linda Vester and a second anonymous woman.
Brokaw has denied the allegations.
[image via Getty]