NEW YORK — NBC News has fired "The Today Show" host Matt Lauer after a colleague accused him of "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace," the network said Wednesday.
NBC News chairman Andrew Lack announced Lauer's termination in a memo Wednesday morning obtained by ABC News, saying the company received "a detailed complaint from a colleague" on Monday night "about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer."
"It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company’s standards," Lack continued. "As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment."
"While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he’s been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident. Our highest priority is to create a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected, and to ensure that any actions."
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"Today" co-anchor Savannah Guthrie read the following statement from NBC News:
"Dear colleagues, on Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer," the statement began. "It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company's standards. As a result, we've decided to terminate his employment. While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over 20 years he's been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident. Our highest priority is to create a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected, and to ensure that any actions that run counter to our core values are met with consequences, no matter who the offender. We are deeply saddened by this turn of events, but we will face it together as a news organization – and do it in as transparent a manner as we can."
Matt Lauer has been terminated from NBC News. On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment. pic.twitter.com/1A3UAZpvPb
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 29, 2017
President Donald Trump responded to the news on Twitter:
Wow, Matt Lauer was just fired from NBC for “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.” But when will the top executives at NBC & Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News. Check out Andy Lack’s past!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2017
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