“People know,” Auletta told the magazine. “People [inside the network] know a lot more than people outside do and gossip a lot more and resent a lot more (a) because they think it’s wrong or (b) because they’re jealous or (c) because how the f— is this guy getting away with it?”
A different NBC News staffer, who reportedly still works on the digital team, told Esquire that “all [NBC executives] cared about” was removing Lauer from all promotion materials and digital content immediately once the star was fired.
Former “Today” assistant Addie Zinone has spoken publicly about her affair with Lauer. She told Esquire that NBC executives “had to have known something,” pointing to behavior by a specific “Today” producer that made it appear obvious that Lauer’s behavior wasn’t exactly shocking at the Peacock Network.
Esquire pointed to a variety of public incidents that further demonstrate that Lauer’s behavior was well known at NBC, such as infamous comments made during a 2008 Friars Club roast of the former “Today” star, comments made by Katie Couric on an episode of Andy Cohen’s “Watch What Happens Live” and even old video of Lauer telling Meredith Vieira to “keep bending over… it’s a nice view.”
“Sources at the network say that NBC News had long operated as a kind of boys’ club in which such peccadilloes and intraoffice flings were swept under the rug,” Esquire’s David Usborne wrote.
Usborne noted that many of “the same NBC executives who’d professed shock at Lauer’s behavior” were in attendance at the Friars Club roast which left little doubt that Lauer’s colleagues knew NBC’s biggest star had a troubled marriage and a wandering eye. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Former Today co-host Ann Curry has said that she knew of sexual misconduct involving Matt Lauer in 2012 and reported it to NBC.
However, the former NBC star says that when the network launched an investigation into Lauer’s sexual misconduct, they never contacted her despite reports from the legal team stating otherwise.
The company’s legal team told The New York Times that Curry had “a discussion” with internal investigators, which Curry flatly denied.
“I have not participated in any formal investigation by NBC on sexual harassment,” she said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Curry said last month that she warned NBC about Lauer, whose alleged sexual misconduct was the impetus for the investigation, back in 2012 after she was approached by a female staffer who asked her for help. – READ MORE
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