A former NBC News correspondent told The Washington Post that during the 1990s, former anchor Tom Brokaw made unwanted sexual advances toward her, once forcibly trying to kiss her after inviting himself into her hotel room.
Linda Vester, who was in her 20s at the time, tells the Post she did not file a complaint because she was worried about retribution. "I am speaking out now because NBC has failed to hire outside counsel to investigate a genuine, long-standing problem of sexual misconduct in the news division," she said. Another woman, a former production assistant who asked to remain anonymous, told the Post that Brokaw acted inappropriately with her in the 1990s, grabbing her hands and putting them under his jacket and against his chest.
Brokaw denied the allegations, telling the Post: "The meetings were brief, cordial, and appropriate, and despite Linda's allegations, I made no romantic overtures toward her, at that time or any other." Late last year, NBC fired Today co-host Matt Lauer after he was accused of sexual misconduct. The Post spoke with 12 female NBC staffers who said they were sexually harassed but never reported it; three said the harassment came from Lauer — one woman said he exposed himself in his office, another said she had sex with him in his office in the middle of the day, and a third said he gave her a sex toy.
Three of Lauer's supporters told the Post that the relationships were consensual, and in a statement, Lauer acknowledged that he "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." For more on how NBC News has handled sexual misconduct allegations and the warning Ann Curry says NBC ignored, visit The Washington Post.