@jonri Yes, agree that settlements with the women will influence how they deal with Lauer.
I do not think he would go down the road of arguing that NBC knew and did nothing so now they owe him $30M. Although his public image is already damaged I think that would do him in. But more importantly in order to make that argument he would have to admit to an awful lot on the record – something his attorney would probably advise him against. His apology was a hedge and he never specified what exactly if anything he was admitting to. Some of what is alleged is criminal.
I also think that NBC had an obligation to fire him when the intern complained and they confirmed the more serious allegations. Even if it took place in 2014 and after his new contract was signed they now have official notice and they could not afford the risk that he now posed. I think the total number of women who have accused him so far is at least 4 and they have physical evidence to support the intern’s accusations.
@saillakeerie - I thought about Marv Albert too. He not only sexually assaulted a woman, he bit her in several places. One woman only escaped by pulling off his toupee. He had a trial, but plead guilty to a reduced charge and did no jail time.
He was hired back at NBC about 2 years later. It has always disgusted me. No way they can get away with this any more.
Suspected translation: “Yeah, I did send lewd pictures to her but it was in the context of a consensual affair.” Implication: “I dumped her and she’s getting even.” @HarvestMoon1 : Pure speculation: some members of management were aware of the affair.
Not surprised the wife came to his defense. The wife is always the last to know as they say. How would she have even known what he did in his locked sex dungeon in NBC headquarters?
I’m sure there will still be cases that are unjust, unfair, and that enrage me. But, I also believe this is a significant moment in history, and yes, things will be different. Not perfect, but most definitely a leap in the right direction.
@jonri I also believe management was aware or suspected something. But he can’t make that argument without admitting to it. From your post above looks like he is headed in the opposite direction.
The politics of all this is ridiculous. He’ll wrangle something out of them but seems there is huge pushback against Guthrie’s and Hoda’s statement on air. NBC has to be careful here as there has been a sea change since all those other big settlements slipped by without much criticism from women.
@midwest67 Hope you are right. I just I am just a little more cynical. There are deep cultural and societal issues underlying the sexual impropriety charges we are seeing. Whether we are talking a leap or baby step forward is left to be seen. And without making significant changes in those cultural and societal issues (which I do not expect will be easy) I think it will more likely be the latter. Though I am all for trying to make things better. Particularly as someone with a wife, daughter, mother, sister and many other female friends and family.
@HarvestMoon1 what is the pushback on their statements? I’m not sure I’ve seen much written negatively about their statements, so I’m wondering what I missed.
The intern story is the weakest accusation in my opinion. If reporting is correct it began in Sochhi and continued back to New York and that may what he’s referring to when he says things aren’t as they seem. And the intern stayed working at NBC, That is just a classic he said/she said The more damning harassment allegations in my opinion are some of the more anecdotal stuff, like the gift, the butt pinching, etc. I don’t know what to make of the office assault, that just feels so out there and needing to assault someone seems totally out of modus operandi for Lauer, but could be more damaging (in my opinion) than the Sochhi incident if in fact he actually forced and assaulted the person. There’s a really good reason why the “what happens on the road stays on the road” and I’ve got zero problem with consenting adults who have sex. He is married so that’s between his wife and his paramour.
@momofthreeboys How in the world is the intern one the weakest? Based on evidence they have seen especially irrefutable photographically evidence (NBC is saying this). I’m losing patience with sex pest apologists.
My prediction: After a period of reflection and soul searching Lauer will conclude that he too was the victim of a permissive, toxic work environment at NBC. He will then do a mea culpa tour of all the talk shows, shedding tears of course.
@IfYouOnlyKnew I heard that there is a lot of pushback on Twitter directed at both of them but here is a CNN article from today that pretty much sums up the point of view of some women. Basically the contention is that women enable this behavior.
My own thought is that I can understand how they might sympathize with Lauer having worked with him for so long and having enjoyed a professional relationship with him. But I would have expressed my support privately to him rather than go on air with the compliments immediately after these allegations were made public. While they expressed support for the women who reported him it was after enthusiastic support for Lauer. Just bad timing in my opinion.
On Mornng Joe, they spoke of a roast n Matt Lauer some years ago. Almost everyone joked about his trysts. It seems that those in media knew he was quite the womanizer. I couldn’t watch long enough to hear if these were all X sensual relationships or not. Then again, I’m not able to judge how a young woman reacts with a pro.
@HarvestMoon1 thanks! I hadn’t caught up to this feedback yet. I’ve been completely engaged in other scandals in Twitter today.
I’m so completely torn about how to handle this. I watched their announcement in real time and I felt they were as honest and fair as they could be in real time. That did not look like a packaged press statement to me. Maybe I’m naive and just wanted to believe them.
When you think about it $0 is the right number for these sorts of exits. Corporations have basically been paying high level executives huge sums of money for interfering with or side tracking the careers of women. The Ailes and O’Reilly payouts really got under my skin.