More Details and Reactions to the Firing of Matt Lauer

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | November 29, 2017 |

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | November 29, 2017 |

We have gotten a few more details about the firing of Matt Lauer this morning. It stems from sexually assaulting a female NBC staffer during the 2016 Rio Olympics. NPR reported the following:

More on Lauer: NBC News source tells NPR that accuser met with NBC NEWS HR on Monday eve - accuser has "significant power differential" with Lauer; behavior involved incident at Sochi 2014 and continued after (as reported by NBC's Gosk & confirmed by source) /Con't

— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) November 29, 2017

con't/ NBC News brass informed by HR on Tues AM - made decision to fire Lauer Tues evening. NBC aware that Variety & NYT had been exploring stories but neither had yet formally contacted network, per source.

— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) November 29, 2017

There are also reports that Variety and the NYTimes have been working on stories about Matt Lauer for weeks and that other incidents will be forthcoming.

Lauer, for his part, apparently accepted his termination and was “remorseful.”

On NBC’s morning editorial call, Andy Lack said Matt Lauer was accepting of the company’s decision… and remorseful… new details now on @CNN

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 29, 2017

Megyn Kelly has since weighed in:

"We start this morning with this news: Matt Lauer has been terminated from NBC News." pic.twitter.com/9g5Ou9r2K6

— Megyn Kelly TODAY (@MegynTODAY) November 29, 2017

Here’s the money quote:

“We are in the middle of a sea change in this country. An empowerment revolution, in which women, who for years felt they had no choice but to deal with being harassed at work, are now starting to picture another reality. To feel that change is within their grasp. As painful as this moment is, for so many here at NBC, today, at CBS earlier this month, at Fox News over the last year, in Hollywood this fall, it is a sign of progress, of women finding their voices, their courage and of the erosion of a shameful power imbalance that has been in place for far too long.”

Kathie Lee Gifford also weighed in. She probably shouldn’t have.

“I don’t feel that Matt has betrayed us in any way at all but when I found out that my husband had betrayed me, you question your own judgment. You say, ‘Was everything a lie?’ And I think we have to very much fight against that, that the man we know and adored was the man we loved and adored and continue to. I texted him this morning and said, ‘I adore you.’ No person is perfect in this world. … And what we need now is forgiveness and mercy for one another.”

Neither Tamron Hall nor Ann Curry have weighed in. Either one of those two would be excellent candidates to replace Lauer. If they replace him with Megyn Kelly, I will personally set fire to the world.