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NBC News fires ‘Today’ co-host Matt Lauer for sexual misconduct

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FILE PHOTO: Host Matt Lauer pauses during a break while filming NBC’s “Today” show at Rockefeller Center in New York, U.S., May 3, 2013. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

NBC News fired Matt Lauer, the popular host of its “Today” morning show, on Wednesday after a female colleague accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior, the network said, making him the latest rich and powerful man to be felled by such accusations.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – NBC News fired Matt Lauer, the popular host of its “Today” morning show, on Wednesday after a female colleague accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior, the network said, making him the latest rich and powerful man to be felled by such accusations.

His termination sent shockwaves through U.S. morning television, where Lauer has been a fixture since becoming a “Today” anchor in 1997 and went on to become one of NBC’s highest-paid personalities, earning $20 million a year.

The married 59-year-old news star was the latest public figure to be embroiled in accusations of sexual misconduct that have recently struck down high-profile men in entertainment, politics and media.

Just hours later, U.S. radio host Garrison Keillor said he had been fired by Minnesota Public Radio over an accusation of inappropriate behavior.

The complaint made by an unnamed female colleague on Monday night was a “clear violation” by Lauer of the company’s standards, NBC News chairman Andrew Lack said in a statement.

“While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he’s been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident,” Lack said.

The network issued a second statement in response to a report in the Hollywood trade publication Variety that said several women had complained to the network about Lauer’s behavior.

“We can say unequivocally, that, prior to Monday night, current NBC News management was never made aware of any complaints about Matt Lauer’s conduct,” an NBC spokeswoman said.

Lauer’s firing challenges NBC in morning show wars

  • New Zealand scrutinizes Matt Lauer’s “good character” to own farm
  • According to Fortune Magazine, he signed a two-year deal in 2016 that would pay him $20 million per year.

    U.S. President Donald Trump responded with messages on Twitter calling for some of Lauer’s colleagues to be fired too, and adding to his recent attacks against U.S. news outlets for their reporting on his administration.

    “Wow,” Trump wrote about Lauer. “But when will the top executives at NBC & Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News.”

    During the 2016 presidential campaign, then-Republican candidate Trump was accused by 13 women who publicly said that in the past he had physically touched them inappropriately in some way, the Washington Post reported. Trump denied the accusations.

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