Matt Lauer Speaks Out to Deny Sexual Harrassment Allegations Against Him

Matt Lauer has spoken out for the first time in five months since he was fired by NBC over allegations of sexual harassment. Lauer denied that he ever harassed anyone, though he did own up to acting “inappropriately” in his capacity as a family man and prominent employee at NBC.

“I have made no public comments on the many false stories from anonymous or biased sources that have been reported about me over these past several months,” Lauer told the Washington Post. “I remained silent in an attempt to protect my family from further embarrassment and to restore a small degree of the privacy they have lost. But defending my family now requires me to speak up. I fully acknowledge that I acted inappropriately as a husband, father and principal at NBC. However I want to make it perfectly clear that any allegations or reports of coercive, aggressive or abusive actions on my part, at any time, are absolutely false.”

Lauer was fired by NBC in November after he was accused by a colleague of “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.” The company said in a statement that Lauer’s actions were investigated and “represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company’s standards.”

Ann Curry told the POst that she informed NBC executives in 2012 that they “had a problem” with Lauer and “needed to keep an eye on him and how he deals with women.” She said that a female staff member approached her about Lauer’s actions and needed help in dealing with him, saying, “She was afraid of losing her job. I believed her.”

“This is one of the problems when we talk about corporations with an HR department being under leadership of someone who might or might not be accused,” Curry added. “How are they going to complain about it if they are accusing someone who is overseeing the department that is supposed to protect them. Do you have a system that allows those who feel they have been victimized to air their complaints without fear they will lose their jobs? I don’t know a company that does.”