Everything We Know So Far About Matt Lauer’s Newest Assault Allegations

It has been two years since Matt Lauer was fired from the Today show after being accused of inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace. Now, in an excerpt from Ronan Farrow’s tell-all book, Catch and Kill, obtained by Variety, Lauer’s accuser details the alleged incident that led to her filing the complaint against him to NBC. Keep scrolling for more details.

Matt Lauer Is Being Accused of Sexual Assault 

Lauer’s former colleague, Brooke Nevils, opened up about the alleged incident in an interview with Farrow, 31. Nevils, 32, claimed she was in Sochi, Russia for NBC’s coverage of the 2014 Sochi Olympics when the alleged rape occurred.

Nevils said she was out for drinks with co-anchor Meredith Vieira, when Lauer, 61, joined them and then invited her back to his room. Farrow wrote that she went as she “had no reason to suspect Lauer would be anything but friendly based on prior experience.” Upon arrival, Lauer allegedly pushed Nevils against the door and kissed her. Then he allegedly proceeded to throw her onto the bed “flipping her over, asking if she liked anal sex,” Farrow wrote. “She said that she declined several times.”

“It was nonconsensual in the sense that I was too drunk to consent,” Nevils, 32, told Farrow, 31. “It was nonconsensual in that I said, multiple times, that I didn’t want to have anal sex.” Nevils asked to be kept anonymous from press reports and her allegations haven’t been made public until now.

Nevils Came Forward in 2017

Nevils came forward in 2017 after years of asking colleagues what she should do, as Lauer held so much power over her career. When Nevils finally told Vieira what had transpired that night in Russia, she urged Nevils to go to NBC Universal human resources with a lawyer. Upon Lauer’s firing, Nevils learned that Noah Oppenheim, the president of NBC News, and Andrew Lack, the chairman of NBC News and MSNBC, “were emphasizing that the incident hadn’t been ‘criminal’ or an ‘assault.’” Nevils claimed she was sickened by their lack of transparency.

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After her admission “Nevils’s work life became torture,” Farrow wrote. “She was made to sit in the same meetings as everyone else, discussing the news, and in all of them colleagues loyal to Lauer cast doubt on the claims, and judgment on her.”

Matt Lauer Has Denied Most Accusations

In an open letter to Variety, Lauer denied the accusations of sexual assault mentioned by Farrow, but confirmed that he had sexual relations with her. “In a new book, it is alleged that an extramarital, but consensual, sexual encounter I have previously admitted having, was in fact an assault,” Lauer said in a letter shared by his lawyer. “It is categorically false, ignores the facts, and defies common sense.”

“I had an extramarital affair with Brooke Nevils in 2014,” Lauer continued. “It began when she came to my hotel room very late one night in Sochi, Russia. We engaged in a variety of sexual acts. We performed oral sex on each other, we had vaginal sex, and we had anal sex. Each act was mutual and completely consensual.”