NBC News chief, Tom Brokaw react to new sexual misconduct allegations against the former anchor
Former NBC News reporter Linda Vester said Tom Brokaw groped her, tried to forcibly kiss her and made inappropriate overtures attempting to have an affair, according to reports published in Variety and the Washington Post. Brokaw denies it. (April 27)
AP
Tom Brokaw was back behind the ‘Today Show’ desk Thursday.
NBC News chairman Andrew Lack restated his commitment to a safe workplace environment Friday, one day after allegations of unwanted advances by the network’s revered former anchor, Tom Brokaw, became public.
The accusations against Brokaw hit the network news division hard, coming just five months after longtime Today Show anchor Matt Lauer was fired after reports of sexual misconduct.
Former NBC News correspondent Linda Vester accuses Brokaw of forced kissing, a groping incident in a conference room and an uninvited appearance at her hotel room, all during the 1990s while he was the anchor of NBC’s Nightly News.
Brokaw angrily denies the allegations by Vester and an another woman, who chose to remain anonymous, in reports Thursday by The Washington Post and Variety.
In a memo The Hollywood Reporter says Brokaw sent to colleagues Friday, he says he’s faced “a long list of grievances from a former colleague who left NBC News angry that she had failed in her pursuit of stardom. She has unleashed a torrent of unsubstantiated criticism and attacks on me more than twenty years after” he helped her line up a job at Fox News. He says he was “ambushed and perp-walked across the pages of the Washington Post and Variety as an avatar of male misogyny.”
More: Tom Brokaw denies making unwanted advances toward ex-NBC anchor
In his memo to NBC News staffers, Lack acknowledges the Brokaw accusations and the former anchor’s denial, without directly commenting on them. “We take allegations such as these very seriously, and act on them quickly and decisively when the facts dictate.” Brokaw still appears occasionally on NBC News programs.
More: Ann Curry: I alerted NBC to ‘problem’ Matt Lauer in 2012
More: Read the NBC News memo on firing Matt Lauer over ‘inappropriate sexual behavior’
Matt Lauer is speaking out about the sexual misconduct allegations that led to his termination from NBC’s “Today” show
Time
Lack goes on to discuss efforts investigate and prevent workplace sexual misconduct since Lauer’s November firing, including a review by parent company NBC Universal of Lauer, which he said would conclude as early as next week.
He repeated a request that employees speak up about inappropriate conduct and other concerns, and said “our highest priority is to ensure we have a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected. We are absolutely committed to making this a reality — there can be no exception.”
The full text of Lack’s memo, provided by NBC News:
Dear Colleagues,
As you have all seen now in reports from last night, there are allegations against Tom Brokaw, made by a former NBC News journalist, which Tom emphatically denies. As we’ve shown, we take allegations such as these very seriously, and act on them quickly and decisively when the facts dictate.
The same report included claims against Matt Lauer. As you know, since the week we terminated Matt’s employment, NBC Universal has been conducting a review, led by general counsel Kim Harris–who has extensive experience in conducting reviews of this kind–with a team of legal and HR leaders. Kim has advised us that the review is nearing its conclusion, and we will have findings and further steps to share with you as soon as next week.
In addition to the review–which has included interviews with employees who worked on TODAY and elsewhere in NBC News, and a substantial culture assessment conducted with hundreds of employees–we also have been running mandatory in-person workplace training sessions. Thus far, 1600 employees have been trained, and the feedback from those sessions has been overwhelmingly positive. We expect to have all 2,000 of our employees trained by end of summer.
If you are one of the many who has participated in interviews, the culture assessment sessions and/or the workplace training sessions, thank you. Your participation, feedback and insights are crucial to this process, as we move forward as an organization.
And as we have done regularly over the last few months, and will continue to do frequently, we want to remind you that we encourage all employees to speak up and raise any concerns you have about inappropriate conduct you have experienced or observed. There are multiple avenues available that we have shared with you before, you can also find the details on the intranet NBCNow.
Once again, our highest priority is to ensure we have a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected. We are absolutely committed to making this a reality–there can be no exception.
As Ever,
Andy (Andrew Lack)
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