American television network National Broadcasting Company on Wednesday fired news anchor Matt Lauer (pictured above) after the company reviewed a detailed complaint of “inappropriate sexual behaviour in the workplace” against him, NBC News reported. Lauer has been hosting the “Today” show for over two decades.
The announcement was made by Lauer’s co-anchor Savannah Guthrie at the beginning of Wednesday’s show. “All we can say is we are heartbroken, I am heartbroken,” Guthrie said.
In a note sent to employees, NBC News chief Andrew Lack said that the complaint against the veteran journalist, received on Monday night, was “a clear violation of our company’s standards”.
“While it is the first complaint about his [Lauer] behaviour 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.
Lack emphasised that NBC’s top priority was ensuring an environment at the workplace where “everyone feels safe and protected”.
The move comes a week after CBS News fired anchor Charlie Rose amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Lockhart Steele, the former editorial director of the Vox news website, is the other high-profile US media figure to have been sacked over allegations of inappropriate behaviour at workplace.
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