Who did Matt Lauer grope?

[lsf911]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

OK, let's hear the theories!

Well, since it happened in Sochi, it could be Natalie Morales, she was there. Soon after 2014 she left The Today Show and took a job in CA. Coincidence? Maybe...

[island911]

^^
FWIW... http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/natalie-morales-addresses-matt-lauer-sexual-misconduct-allegation-article-1.3665612

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by craigster59

Supposedly he sexually assaulted someone at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Three years ago? No sympathy for the accuser, unless she came forward three years ago and was just recently taken seriously. I've heard talk of prosecution of ML for sexual assault over this. Can you be prosecuted as a US citizen for acts committed abroad, if it's not a crime in that country? When I regularly drove at triple digit speeds or drank beer under 21 in Germany or smoked pot in Holland, could they still bust me here?

[vash]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Three years ago? No sympathy for the accuser, unless she came forward three years ago and was just recently taken seriously. I've heard talk of prosecution of ML for sexual assault over this. Can you be prosecuted as a US citizen for acts committed abroad, if it's not a crime in that country? When I regularly drove at triple digit speeds or drank beer under 21 in Germany or smoked pot in Holland, could they still bust me here?

It is not easy to come forward with something like this. It’s embarrassing..

[widgeon13]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Three years ago? No sympathy for the accuser, unless she came forward three years ago and was just recently taken seriously. I've heard talk of prosecution of ML for sexual assault over this. Can you be prosecuted as a US citizen for acts committed abroad, if it's not a crime in that country? When I regularly drove at triple digit speeds or drank beer under 21 in Germany or smoked pot in Holland, could they still bust me here?

My understanding is that complaints were made but not acted on, his behavior was buried.

[URY914]

[wdfifteen]

Who did Matt Lauer grope?

Oprah.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Three years ago? No sympathy for the accuser, unless she came forward three years ago and was just recently taken seriously. I've heard talk of prosecution of ML for sexual assault over this. Can you be prosecuted as a US citizen for acts committed abroad, if it's not a crime in that country? When I regularly drove at triple digit speeds or drank beer under 21 in Germany or smoked pot in Holland, could they still bust me here?

If it was against company policy you could lose your job. It would depend on jurisdiction whether or not you got legally prosecuted too. I've not heard anything abut any legal proceedings. Where did you hear that?

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

If it was against company policy you could lose your job. It would depend on jurisdiction whether or not you got legally prosecuted too. I've not heard anything abut any legal proceedings. Where did you hear that?

My company can fire me because the boss was in a bad mood yesterday. A local radio show was talking about this, mentioned sexual "assault" vs. harassment and said ML could be in a lot more trouble than just losing his job. Haven't watched any news on tv today to see what everyone else is saying. I just can't believe you could be prosecuted in the US for doing something outside the US. But then, only the US thinks our laws apply to everyone, everywhere.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Three years ago? No sympathy for the accuser, unless she came forward three years ago and was just recently taken seriously. I've heard talk of prosecution of ML for sexual assault over this. Can you be prosecuted as a US citizen for acts committed abroad, if it's not a crime in that country? When I regularly drove at triple digit speeds or drank beer under 21 in Germany or smoked pot in Holland, could they still bust me here?

My understanding is yes, you could be prosecuted (technically, though realistically no). My uncle, a marine fisheries expert, used the example of the federal marine mammals protection act. If you're an American citizen and go abroad, you still cannot contact/harrass marine mammals, even if it is legal to do so in that foreign country. So even if it's legal for someone to pick up a baby seal in Jamaica, or hunt a whale in Japan, you could be prosecuted by the feds for doing so. (I countered his example with the autobahn one, but not being a car guy, he wasn't sure of the legal ramifications--though he's pretty adamant about the legalities of the one he presented.)

[ckelly78z]

Al Roker with a Matt Lauer tattoo ? Really ?......where's my eye bleach ?

[onewhippedpuppy]

It couldn’t have happened to a nicer self-righteous hypocrite.

[cairns]

The NYT had been investigating, one of his victims had lawyered up and there was a lot more than just one accusation or incident- they even had pictures and e-mails he'd sent. NBC execs knew it was either him or them. And yes the accuser did come forward years ago.

Will be interesting to see who his enablers were.....

Good riddance the guy was consummate a hole IMO.

[widgeon13]

He is a power hungry, arrogant prick!

[cairns]

The guy was a pig no doubt. This from Variety today:

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.

He would sometimes quiz female producers about who they’d slept with, offering to trade names. And he loved to engage in a crass quiz game with men and women in the office: “f—, marry, or kill,” in which he would identify the female co-hosts that he’d most like to sleep with.

These accounts of Lauer’s behavior at NBC are the result of a two-month investigation by Variety, with dozens of interviews with current and former staffers. Variety has talked to three women who identified themselves as victims of sexual harassment by Lauer, and their stories have been corroborated by friends or colleagues that they told at the time. They have asked for now to remain unnamed, fearing professional repercussions.


On Wednesday, NBC announced that Lauer was fired from “Today.” It was a stunning move for a co-host who was widely considered the crown jewel of the network’s news division, with a $25 million annual salary. The cause of his dismissal, according to sources, was a detailed complaint from another current NBC employee about inappropriate sexual conduct from Lauer that started on a trip at the Sochi Olympics in 2014 and continued for several months.

The employee met with human resources at NBC on Monday night. In a statement, NBC News Chairman Andy Lack called this the first complaint about his behavior in over 20 years and acknowledged that it may not be the last: “We were also presented with reason to believe that this may not have been an isolated incident,” Lack said.

Several women told Variety they complained to executives at the network about Lauer’s behavior, which fell on deaf ears given the lucrative advertising surrounding “Today.” NBC declined to comment. For most of Lauer’s tenure at “Today,” the morning news show was No. 1 in the ratings, and executives were eager to keep him happy.

It’s not clear if NBC is paying Lauer through the end of his contract, which expires in 2018. Lauer couldn’t be reached for comment.

Insiders say that NBC was forced to act quickly after this week’s complaint, given the severity of the accusations and the national dialogue around sexual harassment that has ended the careers of Harvey Weinstein, Charlie Rose, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K. and other prominent men. Now, against a series of questions about the future of “Today,” a troubling portrait has emerged of Lauer. In front of the camera, for more than two decades, Lauer had positioned himself as America’s squeaky-clean dad. But behind the scenes, Lauer was a different person.

Despite being married, Lauer was fixated on women, especially their bodies and looks, according to more than 10 accounts from current and former employees. He was known for making lewd comments verbally or over text messages. He once made a suggestive reference to a colleague’s performance in bed and compared it to how she was able to complete her job, according to witnesses to the exchange. For Lauer, work and sex were intertwined.

“There were a lot of consensual relationships, but that’s still a problem because of the power he held,” says a former producer who knew first-hand of these encounters. “He couldn’t sleep around town with celebrities or on the road with random people, because he’s Matt Lauer and he’s married. So he’d have to do it within his stable, where he exerted power, and he knew people wouldn’t ever complain.”


Lauer, who was paranoid about being followed by tabloid reporters, grew more emboldened at 30 Rockefeller Center as his profile rose following Katie Couric’s departure from “Today” in 2006. His office was in a secluded space, and he had a button under his desk that allowed him to lock his door from the inside without getting up. This afforded him the assurance of privacy. It allowed him to welcome female employees and initiate inappropriate contact while knowing nobody could walk in on him, according to two women who were sexually harassed by Lauer.

According to sources, the sexual harassment extended to when Lauer traveled on assignment for NBC. Several employees recall how he paid intense attention to a young woman on his staff that he found attractive, focusing intently on her career ambitions. And he asked the same producer to his hotel room to deliver him a pillow, according to sources with knowledge of the interaction.

This was part of a pattern. According to multiple accounts, independently corroborated by Variety, Lauer would invite women employed by NBC late at night to his hotel room while covering the Olympics in various cities over the years. He later told colleagues how his wife had accompanied him to the London Olympics because she didn’t trust him to travel alone.

The spotlight on Lauer intensified earlier this month, when his longtime booker Matt Zimmerman was fired over sexual harassment complaints. The two were very close, and Lauer had promoted Zimmerman to a high executive position and offered him a powerful perch.

Lauer’s conduct was not a secret among other employees at “Today,” numerous sources say. At least one of the anchors would gossip about stories she had heard, spreading them among the staff. “Management sucks there,” says a former reporter, who asked not to be identified, speaking about executives who previously worked at the show. “They protected the s— out of Matt Lauer.”

Some producers told Variety they were conflicted about what to do around Lauer. They worried that their careers would be sidelined if they didn’t return his advances. “There is such shame with Matt Lauer not liking you,” the former employee added. “I did this special with him and we are traveling and I had a cold sore on my lip and I heard him say to Bryant Gumbel, ‘She has this really ugly cold sore on her lip,’ like that was something to be ashamed of. He was just really cruel.”

According to producers, Lauer — who had considerable editorial clout over which stories would ultimately air on “Today” — would frequently dismiss stories about cheating husbands. However, in the wake of Roger Ailes and Harvey Weinstein, Lauer had to keep up with a national conversation about sexual harassment. It often made for awkward moments on TV for staff members who knew about Lauer’s private interactions.

In September, Lauer asked the former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly if he’d ever sent lewd text messages to colleagues. “Think about those … women and what they did,” Lauer said. “They came forward and filed complaints against the biggest star at the network they worked at. Think about how intimidating that must have been. Doesn’t that tell you how strongly they felt about you?

[widgeon13]

Funny how they are always truly feel sorry after they get caught.

"Fired US TV news anchor Matt Lauer has said he is "truly sorry" after being accused of sexual misconduct."

Seems like we should be calling it what it really is, RAPE! Sexual misconduct would be a pinch on the ass, bending her over a chair is rape and he should be prosecuted.

[74-911]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

Funny how they are always truly feel sorry after they get caught.

"Fired US TV news anchor Matt Lauer has said he is "truly sorry" after being accused of sexual misconduct."

I'm sure he will be reporting to "rehab" shortly. Perhaps he will run into Harvey in group sessions.

[island911]

And he loved to engage in a crass quiz game with men and women in the office: “f—, marry, or kill,”

Oh, man... if ONLY he would have done that Q in his pre-election interview with Hilda.

[red-beard]

Apparently, it was text messages with pictures!

https://pagesix.com/2017/11/29/matt-lauer-accused-of-sexting-nbc-intern-and-staffers/

[Rick Lee]

Man, I really don't get the sexting thing with anyone other than a significant other. And even then, it's pretty risky. In the workplace it's just insane, or outside but with co-workers.

I belong to a closed Facebook group where a lot of women post very racy selfies. They are invariably bombarded with dick pics from total stranger males in that group, which then gets those guys banned. But WTF thinks women want unsolicited dick pics? Does that ever end well? Ever?