Who Is Brooke Nevils, the Woman Who Accused Matt Lauer of Sexual Assault?

We’re learning more and more about this situation all the time. Matt Lauer was accused of rape in Ronan Farrow’s new book, Catch and Kill, by a former NBC colleague — Brooke Nevils. Who is she? How did they work together? And what did Nevils accuse the former Today show host of?

Who Is Brooke Nevils?

Nevils is a former NBC News employee who alleged that Lauer sexually assaulted her at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The details of the incident were included in Farrow’s new book, which was obtained by Variety but will not be released until October 15. She accused Lauer of engaging in non-consensual anal sex with her in Russia.

Nevils is an American television producer who grew up in Missouri and graduated from Johns Hopkins University, Heavy reported. She earned a double major in political science and Writing Seminars there. She went on to become a TV producer at NBC before she went on “medical leave” in 2018.

What Shows Has Nevils Worked On?

Nevils worked with former Today co-anchor Meredith Vieira doing Olympics coverage for the 2014 games. She’s also worked on 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? and Headliners as a producer, and acted as part of the production staff for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, according to her IMDB page. Heavy reported that Nevils was a personal assistant to Vieira for 10 months and eventually became an assistant producer for A Leap of Faith: A Meredith Vieira Special in 2014.

What Did Nevils Accuse Lauer Of?

Specifically, Nevils claimed Lauer had anal sex with her without her consent in his hotel room at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Lauer allegedly pushed her against the door and kissed her in the room before pushing her onto the bed, “flipping her over, asking if she liked anal sex,” Farrow wrote in Catch and Kill. “She said that she declined several times.” Nevils alleged that she “was in the midst of telling him she wasn’t interested again when he ‘just did it,’” Farrow continued. “Lauer, she said, didn’t use lubricant. The encounter was excruciatingly painful. ‘It hurt so bad. I remember thinking, Is this normal?’ She told me she stopped saying no, but wept silently into a pillow.”

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Nevils admitted to Farrow that she had more sexual encounters with Lauer. “Sources close to Lauer emphasized that she sometimes initiated contact,” Farrow noted. “What is not in dispute is that Nevils, like several of the women I’d spoken to, had further sexual encounters with the man she said assaulted her. ‘This is what I blame myself most for,’” she reportedly said to Farrow. “It was completely transactional. It was not a relationship.” Nevils claimed to be scared about the control Lauer had over her career, but that she eventually went to Vieira and told her what allegedly occurred.

What Has Lauer Said About the Accusations?

In a letter provided to Variety by Lauer’s lawyer, the former TV host denied that his relationship with Nevils was anything but consensual, but did admit that they had an affair. “In a new book, it is alleged that an extramarital, but consensual, sexual encounter I have previously admitted having, was, in fact, an assault. It is categorically false, ignores the facts, and defies common sense,” he wrote. “I had an extramarital affair with Brooke Nevils in 2014. 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.”

Lauer added, “There was absolutely nothing aggressive about that encounter. Brooke did not do or say anything to object. She certainly did not cry. She was a fully enthusiastic and willing partner.” He wrote toward the end of the letter, “I have never assaulted anyone or forced anyone to have sex. Period.” It seems the public has a lot more to learn about Lauer’s transgressions than initially realized.