NBC sacks Today Show host Matt Lauer over 'inappropriate sexual behaviour'

Allegations: Matt Lauer
AP
Hatty Collier29 November 2017

American broadcaster NBC News has sacked longtime morning show host Matt Lauer following allegations of “inappropriate sexual behaviour.”

Mr Lauer was a co-host on the “Today” show. He has not yet responded to the allegations.

His co-anchor Savannah Guthrie made the announcement at the beginning of the programme on Wednesday.

Ms Guthrie read a statement from NBC News chairman Andy Lack, stating that the company has received a detailed complaint from a colleague on Monday night "about inappropriate sexual behaviour in the workplace" by Mr Lauer.

Mr Lack's statement said the company found that after a serious review of the complaint it represented "a clear violation" of the company's standards, and that Mr Lauer’s employment was terminated as a result.

Mr Lack added in his statement that it was the first complaint about Lauer in more than 20 years at NBC, but "we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident."

The move comes a week after CBS News fired morning anchor Charlie Rose amid reports of sexual misconduct.

Following the news, US President Donald Trump tweeted: “Wow, Matt Lauer was just fired from NBC for “inappropriate sexual behaviour in the workplace.” But when will the top executives at NBC and Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News. Check out Andy Lack’s past!”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT