Geraldo Rivera Slammed on Twitter for ‘News is a Flirty Business’ Defense of Matt Lauer
Geraldo Rivera offered up a different take on Matt Lauer today that got roundly criticized on social media.
Rivera said there’s a slippery slope happening right now and even said, after talking about what a great guy Lauer is, “news is a flirty business”:
Sad about @MLauer great guy, highly skilled & empathetic w guests & a real gentleman to my family & me. News is a flirty business & it seems like current epidemic of #SexHarassmentAllegations may be criminalizing courtship & conflating it w predation. What about #GarrisonKeillor?
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) November 29, 2017
A jerk's a jerk in dating. #SexHarassment should be confined to situations where superior imposes himself on subordinate who feels unable to complain because of power of perp or feared consequences to victim's employment. Shouldn't be used to get even w bad bosses or hated ex's
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) November 29, 2017
Heard well-regarded women in media today suggesting morning shows go to an all-female format. That should be as unacceptably retro as the other way around.
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) November 29, 2017
#SexHarassment allegations should require: 1-made in a timely fashion-say w/n 5 yrs. 2-some contemporaneous corroboration, like witnesses, electronic or written communications. W $ settlements in multi-millions slight chance exists some victims are motivated by more than justice
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) November 29, 2017
This issue is so red hot right now there is no room for any thought or opinion but hang em high. If News wasn’t (formerly) a flirty biz then how do we explain so many newsroom courtships that have led to happy marriages?
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) November 29, 2017
Lauer is, for the record, being accused of worse than just “flirting.”
As the co-host of NBC’s “Today,” Matt Lauer once gave a colleague a sex toy as a present. It included an explicit note about how he wanted to use it on her, which left her mortified.
On another day, he summoned a different female employee to his office, and then dropped his pants, showing her his penis. After the employee declined to do anything, visibly shaken, he reprimanded her for not engaging in a sexual act.
Rivera was roundly mocked and criticized for his tweets:
Pls @GeraldoRivera once my friend-women just want to keep their jobs. They get paid in secret settlements b/c most never work in chosen fields ever again after bravely coming forward thanks https://t.co/fyBvjDgqB2
— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) November 29, 2017
Ayo Geraldo, news is only a flirty business if you think objective journalism means treating women like objects
— Aparna Nancherla (@aparnapkin) November 29, 2017
wow, now that I’ve read this I agree and will ignore all cases from this point on that don’t fall under Geraldo’s highly specific and not at all suspicious criteria that he has decided to share now for no particular reason https://t.co/59TH3CavMd
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) November 29, 2017
If you're shocked at Geraldo for defending Matt Lauer, you really shouldn't be.
Here's how Geraldo defended Roger Ailes in July of 2016 https://t.co/gX5cD0wajo
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) November 29, 2017
Excuse me, Geraldo, dropping one's pants and sending a co-worker a sex toy is not courtship. https://t.co/ue5qnzCkVJ
— Caitlin Huey-Burns (@CHueyBurns) November 29, 2017
NEWS IS A FLIRTY BUSINESS: THE GERALDO STORY pic.twitter.com/Nkbbqk5sS9
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) November 29, 2017
"Hey, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" At a bar is flirting.
Whipping your penis out in front of a co-worker is not.
I don't know how to make this any clearer for guys. https://t.co/2SvfBuTvIS
— Jennifer Wright (@JenAshleyWright) November 29, 2017
i need a button under my desk that will place this tweet in the garbage thanks https://t.co/GN2ImbnK6U
— Emma Loop (@LoopEmma) November 29, 2017
“News is a flirty business.” That’s @GeraldoRivera quoting Walter Cronkite, right? News. Is. A. Flirty. Business. #FlirtyNews https://t.co/nAlgqnZmdb
— Daniel Fienberg (@TheFienPrint) November 29, 2017
bro do you understand what he is accused of doing https://t.co/0RLjgPDTri
— Leon Wolf (@LeonHWolf) November 29, 2017
What's the news business coming to when a guy can't remotely lock women into his corner office, drop his pants, and demand a hummer? https://t.co/QcIiez2dd1
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) November 29, 2017
Apparently Geraldo thinks showing your dick to a woman with the expectation of sexual favors is just "flirty" https://t.co/PK7v2FwgZm
— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) November 29, 2017
HE. LOCKED. HIS. OFFICE. DOOR. WITH. A. SECRET. BUTTON. SO. PEOPLE. WOULDN'T. WALK. IN. ON. HIM. ASSAULTING. WOMEN. https://t.co/PQMnHAJUBo
— Miles Kahn (@mileskahn) November 29, 2017
"News is a flirty business"????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????https://t.co/NXNOME9JdZ
— Inkoo Kangst (@inkookang) November 29, 2017
The worst take https://t.co/zDu9NKNxyg
— Sam Stein (@samstein) November 29, 2017
Is there something you want to tell us? https://t.co/xKOPbTfygE
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) November 29, 2017
[image via screengrab]
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