According to sources, Matt Lauer’s rape accuser was his co-worker, Brooke Nevils. The NBC producer released the allegations anonymously last 2017, and after two years, her identity was revealed to the public.
During the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Brooke Nevils claimed that Matt Lauer raped her in his hotel room. In November 2017, she submitted a formal complaint about Matt Lauer to NBC’s human resources division.
Brooke Nevils’ Accusations
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Brooke told the New York reporter Ronan Farrow detailed information about the alleged rape, the night Matt Lauer and her drank at a hotel bar with other people. Brooke said that she drank six vodka shots.
According to Ronan Farrow, Brooke claims that although Matt Lauer asked her to his room, she had no reason to believe that he would be anything other than amiable, given her prior interactions with him. She said she “had no reason to suspect Lauer would be anything but friendly based on prior experience.”
She claims that once inside the room, Lauer pushed himself on her and sexually assaulted her. Brooke told Ronan Farrow that it was non-consensual and that she was too drunk to give him any response.
Brooke also claimed that she told Matt Lauer multiple times that she didn’t want anal sex. After that, she later remarked, “It stung so badly. I recall asking myself, “Is this normal?”
Matt Lauer Completely Denies All Allegations
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Following these testimonies, Matt Lauer wrote a letter strongly denying the claims made by his rape accuser, Brooke Nevils, that he had sexually assaulted her during the Winter Olympics in Sochi last 2014. Matt Lauer calls the contact with Brooke an “extramarital affair.”
He also dismissed the charges saying it was part of a promotional effort to sell a book, and calls the accusation made in Ronan Farrow’s new book, “Catch and Kill,” “categorically false, ignores the facts, and defies common sense.”
Matt Lauer said their encounter during the 2014 Sochi Olympics started a relationship that continued once they arrived back in New York.
Although Brooke does not deny they had further intercourse, she calls them “completely transactional” because of their power dynamics. While denying the assertion that he influenced her career, Matt Lauer clarifies that “she did not work for me, the Today Show, or NBC News.”
According to The Times, NBC received at least two other complaints soon after Brooke filed hers. One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Times that Matt Lauer had invited her to visit his office during the working day in 2001.
She had told him he could lock the door using a button at his desk, so he did. Matt Lauer allegedly pulled down her trousers and abused her sexually after that. She said she fainted during the assault and claimed that Matt Lauer sent his aide to get a nurse to take her.
What Happened to Matt Lauer After All the Accusations
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One month after Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual harassment launched the #MeToo movement, Matt Lauer was fired. Since then, Matt Lauer has maintained a low profile.
Page Six states that Matt Lauer and his wife, Anette Rocque, filed for an uncontested divorce in July 2019. A Suffolk County Supreme Court judge then granted the divorce in September of the same year. The article at the time said that Lauer would give Anette Roque up to $20 million in the event of a divorce and that she would keep possession of the horse farm they shared in the Hamptons.
Jeff Zucker, the CEO of CNN, promised CNN employees in May 2019 that Matt Lauer would not appear on the cable news network. The declaration was a direct result of Matt Lauer making a rare public appearance at Zucker’s birthday party, as reported by Page Six. It was made via an internal broadcast to CNN workers.
Where is Matt Lauer Now?
In May 2022, Matt eventually sold his $44 million Hamptons home, and rumors indicated that he had left the country for his farm in New Zealand. The farm is eight kilometers of lakefront property, a five-bedroom house, and several farm structures and fishing shacks are all features of the sizable property.
After years of being silent, victims of sexual abuse are slowly going to the surface and bravely sharing their experiences with their abusers. Matt Lauer’s rape accuser, Brooke Nevils, is one example that the #MeToo movement is sending big waves worldwide, and rape victims have a solid platform to let their voices be heard.