Associated Press/Richard Drew
- NBC News fired Matt Lauer following a complaint from a colleague accusing him of “inappropriate sexual behavior,” the network said Wednesday.
- NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack told staff in a memo that it “may not have been an isolated incident.”
- Shortly after the news broke, TMZ resurfaced a 2012 interview in which Lauer’s former co-host Katie Couric said he pinched her “on the a– a lot.”
Katie Couric, who co-hosted NBC’s “Today” with Matt Lauer for 15 years, once said in a 2012 interview that Lauer pinched her “on the a– a lot.”
NBC News fired Lauer on Wednesday for “inappropriate sexual behavior,” after the network received a complaint two days earlier from one of Lauer’s colleagues.
The network’s chairman, Andrew Lack, said in a memo to staff that the complaint was the first formally levied against Lauer, but that the company was “also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.”
In Couric’s interview on the Bravo talk show “Watch What Happens Live,” which TMZ resurfaced on Wednesday, host Andy Cohen had asked her what she considered to be Lauer’s most annoying habit.
“He pinches me on the a– a lot,” she replied.
Lauer’s firing is the latest in a long line of recent dismissals and resignations following sexual misconduct allegations at media companies. CBS’ Charlie Rose, ABC News’ Mark Halperin, and NPR’s Michael Oreskes have all left their roles in recent weeks.
Watch the clip of Couric’s interview below:
