- 9 hours ago
- #metoo
From hot-mic disasters to #MeToo reckonings, some of TV news' biggest names have seen their reputations crumble in spectacular fashion. Join us as we count down the most disgraced figures in American television news history, whose carefully polished images collapsed under the weight of scandal, misconduct, and controversy that shocked audiences nationwide!
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NewsTranscript
00:00Let me start with my headline tonight. I'm retiring.
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at major figures in American TV news whose carefully polished reputations collapsed under
00:10the weight of scandal.
00:11I went voting with one of the real great Americans, Donald Trump, and we went to his polling place, and
00:17his temperament quickly changed.
00:20Geraldo Rivera
00:21I'm Geraldo Rivera, and you're about to witness a live television event.
00:25A massive concrete vault has been discovered. Some think it belonged to none other than the notorious Al Capone.
00:32Well, tonight, for the first time, that vault is going to be open live.
00:36Long before cable news perfected the art of turning journalism into spectacle, Geraldo Rivera was paving the way.
00:42His most famous fiasco came in 1986 with the mystery of Al Capone's vaults, a massively hyped live TV event
00:48that promised hidden treasure and delivered little more than rubble and humiliation.
00:51We found the secret tunnel. We found the hidden stairways. We found the other private spaces.
00:56We talked to a lot of people, you know, older people, whose memories I think would have otherwise been forever
01:01lost if it wasn't for this program.
01:02It seems, at least up to now, that we've struck out with the vault. I'm disappointed about that, as I'm
01:07sure you are.
01:07This is one time in my life that a pot of gold would have been a lot more fun than
01:12chasing the rainbows.
01:13But the showmanship didn't stop there. In 2001, he was mocked after claiming to be at the scene of a
01:18friendly fire incident in Afghanistan when he was reportedly hundreds of miles away.
01:22Later, in 2003, while embedded with U.S. forces in Iraq, Rivera drew an upcoming military operation in the sand
01:29during a live broadcast, getting himself expelled from the country.
01:32That's Kuwait. That's where our forces are based. That's where the invasion of Iraq emanated.
01:38From Kuwait, a major highway comes through that country, through Iraq, coming through, coming up here to the Iraqi capital
01:47of Baghdad.
01:48T.J. Holmes and Amy Roback.
01:50GMA's Amy Roback was back on the air today. She missed her show yesterday, which was the same day that
01:55reports broke, claiming she was having an affair with her co-host, T.J. Holmes.
02:00But as Amber Cogliano reports today, they were both back side by side.
02:05Few TV news scandals felt more perfectly engineered for the social media age than this one.
02:10T.J. Holmes and Amy Roback were the polished co-anchors of ABC News, GMA3, What You Need to Know,
02:15where their easy chemistry was supposed to read as effortless morning TV charm.
02:19Roback, what did you mean exactly when you said he took his talents to the island?
02:24I think you know exactly what I meant, and we actually got to see that in the wild.
02:29I'm not even kidding yesterday. We weren't allowed to show it because, you know, American television probably frowns upon that,
02:35but it was fascinating to see them do what they do.
02:39In late November 2022, the Daily Mail published photos of the two together, setting off a tabloid frenzy that quickly
02:44bled into ABC's own newsroom.
02:46The pair were pulled from the air on December 5th as ABC News president Kim Godwin called the situation an
02:51internal and external distraction.
02:53After weeks of internal review, mediation, and relentless public scrutiny over workplace optics, both anchors officially exited ABC on January
03:0027th, 2023.
03:02T.J. filed for divorce from his wife of nearly 13 years, Marilee.
03:06After his affair became public, her attorney blasted the relationship, saying it showed T.J.'s lack of discretion, respect, and
03:13sensitivity toward her.
03:14Mark Halperin.
03:15Well, a lot of the stuff that's surrounding the book and the New York Times reported yesterday is, I think,
03:21ridiculous and silly.
03:22I mean, Bill Clinton can give paid speeches. All our former presidents have. George Bush does to this day.
03:26The stuff that I think is most serious is if the foundation or President Clinton is taking money from people
03:32with business before the State Department.
03:33For a while there, Mark Halperin seemed to be everywhere, on election night panels, on MSNBC's Morning Joe, and in
03:39the upper tier of Washington media.
03:41In October 2017, multiple women accused Halperin of sexual harassment during his time as political director at ABC News in
03:48the early 2000s,
03:49with allegations ranging from unwanted advances to pressing his body against junior staffers.
03:53Halperin denied some of the more extreme claims, but he also issued a lengthy apology, admitting to behavior that was,
03:59in his own words, aggressive and crude.
04:01NBC first suspended him before cutting ties altogether.
04:04Showtime and Penguin also dropped projects tied to him, turning what might have been a survivable scandal into a full
04:09professional wipeout.
04:10He suggested coming up to his office to talk politics over a Diet Coke, and while I was there, he
04:16sort of lunged at me, kissed me, touched me inappropriately.
04:21It's still very uncomfortable to describe.
04:24And I sort of felt his body on me, and it was very uncomfortable, to say the least.
04:30Rita Cosby.
04:31And I also like what the Democrats are doing, I mean, talk about a wacky thing, they're going after the,
04:35quote, hoodlum vote.
04:36A familiar cable news presence with a hard-charging style, Cosby took a sharp turn into tabloid territory with her
04:422007 Anna Nicole Smith tell-all blonde ambition,
04:45the untold story behind Anna Nicole Smith's death.
04:48The book made sensational claims about Howard K. Stern, Smith's attorney and former companion,
04:52and it quickly sparked a major libel battle.
04:54Do you think you enabled that harmful use by her?
05:00No.
05:01You know, Anna had her doctors, and she had her medical problems, and I saw her suffer.
05:07I saw her suffer for years.
05:09She didn't take medication for fun or to get high.
05:12She took medication so she could deal with daily life.
05:15Stern sued, arguing the book contained defamatory fabrications.
05:19Ultimately, Stern's suit against Cosby didn't go to a verdict.
05:22A federal judge in 2009 allowed major parts of Stern's defamation case to proceed and sharply criticized Cosby's conduct.
05:28But before trial in November 2009, the case was settled out of court, and the terms have never been made
05:33public.
05:33There was this beautiful woman, still, you know, dying at such an early age,
05:38had so much to look forward to, by all accounts, a very nice person from what so many people said.
05:44It's just such a tragic loss.
05:45And I think it is a lesson for people like Britney Spears and other people who, you know,
05:49maybe are not mindful of their behavior, not looking for people who are around them.
05:53Jason Miller.
05:54So the filing earlier this month said that in 2012, Miller met a dancer, referred to as Jane Doe,
06:01at a strip club in Orlando and began a sexual relationship with her.
06:04And she got pregnant through that sexual relationship.
06:09Miller visited her at her apartment with a smoothie beverage.
06:13Not every media scandal belongs to a classic anchor or household name host.
06:17Sometimes the stain lands on the pundit class hovering around the edges of television news,
06:21and Jason Miller fits squarely in that category.
06:23Joe Biden is losing nationally, he's losing in every single battleground state,
06:28and President Trump's numbers continue to rise.
06:31And the best that Biden can do is roll out a washed up actor.
06:36And don't worry, my remarks will be shorter than the Irishman.
06:39I won't make you suffer for three hours.
06:41Known more as a Trump world operative and talking head than as a traditional journalist,
06:45Miller became a familiar face on TV before his public image was dragged into something far uglier.
06:50In 2018, allegations tied to a paternity dispute accused him of secretly giving a pregnant woman an abortion pill in
06:56a smoothie.
06:56Miller denied the claim, but the allegation alone was explosive enough to cling to his name for years.
07:01He later sued over reports on the story and lost on appeal.
07:04These are the people that make up the real heart of the Republican Party.
07:09It's not the voters, it's the disgusting people like Miller who help influence policy and influence politicians.
07:17And this is the kind of stuff they do when they think nobody's looking.
07:22Chris Matthews.
07:23Bernie, on the other hand, did his job.
07:25He got more than a majority, more than a majority of that 67%.
07:29That is the name of the game.
07:30It is pretty much over unless that changes.
07:33I was reading last night, Brian, I know you're a history guy too.
07:37Chris Matthews' whole appeal rested on the idea that he was a little too much.
07:40Loud, combative, and hopelessly in love with his own cable news bluster,
07:44he turned hardball into a nightly showcase for old-school political bombast.
07:48But by 2020, that persona was aging badly in public.
07:51Matthews had already drawn backlash for comparing Bernie Sanders' Nevada win to the Nazi takeover of France
07:56and for awkwardly casting doubt on allegations against Mike Bloomberg.
07:59I'm reading last night about the fall of France in the summer of 1940,
08:03and the general, Renaud, calls up Churchill and says,
08:07it's over.
08:08And Churchill said, how can it be?
08:10You've got the greatest army in Europe.
08:12How can it be over?
08:12He said, it's over.
08:14So I had that suppressed feeling.
08:16I can't be as wild as Carville, but he is damn smart, and I think he's damn right on this
08:20one.
08:21At that point, journalist Laura Bassett publicly accused him of making inappropriate comments to her
08:25before a 2016 appearance on his show.
08:27Within days, Matthews was gone, abruptly retiring live on air while apologizing for past comments to women.
08:33We're talking here about better standards than we grew up with, fair standards.
08:37A lot of it has to do with how we talk to each other.
08:39Compliments on a woman's appearance that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were okay.
08:46We're never okay.
08:47Not then, and certainly not today.
08:48And for making such comments in the past, I'm sorry.
08:52Billy Bush.
09:07One hot mic was all it took to turn a glossy TV career into a cautionary tale.
09:11Billy Bush, nephew of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, had spent years cultivating the image of a
09:16breezy, harmless, entertainment news personality.
09:19In 2016, he moved from Access Hollywood to NBC's Today in what looked like a clear career upgrade.
09:24Then came the release of the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood tape in October 2016.
09:28I've got to use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her.
09:32You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful.
09:34I just start kissing them.
09:35It's like a magnet.
09:37On the tape, Bush was heard laughing along as then-presidential candidate Donald Trump made vulgar comments about women.
09:43NBC suspended him almost at once, and he was soon out at Today.
09:46We live in a visual and digital age, so we get this video, this moment, and we react emotionally.
09:54And then you have social media and the ability to respond in real time, and a flame becomes a bonfire
10:00very, very quickly.
10:02Roger Ailes.
10:20As the mastermind behind Fox News, Ailes wasn't just a network executive, but a kingmaker, helping build a media empire
10:26that reshaped conservative politics and television alike.
10:29For years, that made him one of the most powerful men in American news.
10:32In the suit, Carlson claims the media mogul subjected her to severe and pervasive sexual harassment at Fox News,
10:40alleging Ailes injected sexual and or sexist comments into their conversations, even asking her to turn around so he could
10:49view her posterior.
10:50In 2016, former Fox host Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him, and additional accusations soon followed from
10:57other women, including Megyn Kelly.
10:59Ailes denied wrongdoing, but the scandal was simply too large to contain, and he resigned as chairman and CEO of
11:04Fox News as the Murdochs moved to push him out.
11:06In 2019, the saga was adapted into director Jay Roach's Oscar-winning film, Bombshell, in which Ailes was played by
11:12John Lithgow.
11:13We're sitting here wondering if a candidate for president poisoned my coffee.
11:16It's only crazy until it happens, and it happens.
11:20I hate being the story.
11:22I'll call Trump.
11:23You go on vacation.
11:25Stay above it all.
11:26He won't dent your ratings.
11:28Nobody stops watching because of a conflict.
11:32They stop watching when there isn't one.
11:34Number 10.
11:35Don Lemon.
11:35I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN.
11:40I am stunned.
11:41This Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist was a fixture on CNN from 2006 until 2023,
11:47appearing in various capacities before being awarded Don Lemon Tonight, his own show, in 2014.
11:52Following its cancellation in 2022, CNN This Morning would ultimately serve as his final role at the network
11:58before his unceremonious, painfully public firing in 2023.
12:02After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell
12:08me directly.
12:08The cause was a series of on-air remarks made by Lemon that were perceived as misogynistic,
12:12as well as a reported history of similar behind-the-scenes behavior at CNN.
12:16A 2024 deal with Elon Musk's ex, which would see Lemon hosting a new show on the platform,
12:21was quickly scuttled following a heated, awkward interview with the billionaire.
12:25So you said if they kill the company, it's them.
12:27But doesn't the buck stop with you?
12:29I mean, you're on-
12:33I have to say, choose your question carefully. There's five minutes left.
12:38Far from fading away, Lemon found himself back in the national spotlight in 2026
12:43after being arrested and federally charged over his live-streamed coverage
12:46of the city's church protests in St. Paul, Minnesota.
12:49Number nine, Dan Rather.
12:50If evacuation of all islands and low coastal areas along the Louisiana and the upper and central Texas coast has
12:56not been completed,
12:58evacuation should be hastened before it is too late.
13:01Every precautionary measure should be taken now to protect life and property against dangerous winds and tides.
13:06One of the most legendary and respected news anchors in the history of American television,
13:11Rather first rose to national prominence in 1961,
13:14after his reporting on the highly destructive Hurricane Carla reportedly saved as many as 350,000 lives.
13:21Two years later, in 1963, Rather covered the assassination of President John F. Kennedy,
13:26earning him CBS's coveted White House correspondent position in 1964.
13:30The films we saw were taken by an amateur photographer who had a particularly good vantage point
13:39just past the building from which the fatal shot was fired.
13:43The films show President Kennedy's open black limousine making a left turn.
13:49Rather, who then enjoyed decades of public trust and admiration,
13:52was suddenly thrust out of the spotlight in 2005 when he presented unverified documents live on air
13:58that challenged then-President Bush's record of military service.
14:01The fallout saw Rather fired the following year,
14:04only returning to CBS in 2024 for an interview with Lee Cowan.
14:08We reported a true story.
14:10There are many questions about George Bush.
14:13Was he AWOL, absent, without leave?
14:15Did he desert?
14:16Because he disappeared for a year.
14:17If you're an American soldier or airman in Afghanistan today,
14:21and you walk off the base for even a couple of days,
14:23you have to be accountable and you have to pay consequences.
14:26Number eight, Brian Williams.
14:28So last week on Nightly News,
14:30Williams recounted a moment from his time embedded with the U.S. Army during the Iraq invasion.
14:36The story actually started with a terrible moment a dozen years back during the invasion of Iraq,
14:42when the helicopter we were traveling in was forced down after being hit by an RPG.
14:47Sometimes a career-damaging scandal can unfold rapidly.
14:50Other times, a seed sown years before can come back to bite you.
14:53Such was the case with NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams,
14:57who'd started in 1993 as a correspondent and was later promoted to anchor in 2004.
15:02One of the crew members of that helicopter challenged Williams with this Facebook post.
15:08Sorry, I don't remember you being on my aircraft.
15:10I do remember you walking up about an hour after we had landed to ask me what had happened.
15:15Williams was accused of misrepresenting a 2003 account of an Iraq war story,
15:19in which the anchor claimed to have been a passenger on a military helicopter that was attacked.
15:23In February 2015, Williams made an on-air apology in which he admitted to lying about his presence
15:29on the helicopter, for which he was suspended and later demoted to the position of breaking
15:33news anchor for MSNBC.
15:35On this broadcast last week, in an effort to honor and thank a veteran who protected me
15:40and so many others after a ground fire incident in the desert during the Iraq war invasion,
15:46I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago.
15:50It did not take long to hear from some brave men and women in the air crews.
15:55Number seven, Meghan Kelly.
15:57Santa Claus should not be a white man anymore.
15:58And when I saw this headline, I kind of laughed and I said, oh, this is so ridiculous.
16:03Yet another person claiming it's racist to have a white Santa, you know.
16:07And by the way, for all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white.
16:11But this person is just arguing that maybe we should also have a black Santa.
16:15But, you know, Santa is what he is.
16:17The firebrand former Fox and NBC News host is no stranger to controversy and intense public scrutiny,
16:23often resulting from her unfiltered, unapologetic takes on hot topics.
16:26Such scandals have included a widely criticized 2013 instance in which Kelly was adamant in her belief
16:32that both Santa Claus and Jesus Christ are white, and crucially for our video today,
16:37a deeply cringeworthy statement about blackface on Megyn Kelly today.
16:41And I want to begin with two words.
16:43I'm sorry.
16:45You may have heard that yesterday we had a discussion here about political correctness and Halloween costumes.
16:50And that conversation turned to whether it is ever okay for a person of one race to dress up as
16:55another.
16:56In October 2018, Kelly made remarks that appeared to condone the disgraced practice,
17:00saying,
17:01When I was a kid, that was okay as long as you were dressing up like a character.
17:04Days later, Megyn Kelly today was canceled, and NBC formally severed ties with her in January 2019.
17:09I defended the idea, saying as long as it was respectful and part of a Halloween costume, it seemed okay.
17:17Well, I was wrong, and I am sorry.
17:20One of the great parts of sitting in this chair each day is getting to discuss different points of view.
17:25Sometimes I talk, and sometimes I listen.
17:28And yesterday, I learned.
17:30Number six, Charlie Rose.
17:31Bill Clinton, after the New Hampshire primary, went out front of, and had a press conference,
17:37and he said, even though he came in second, said, I'm the comeback kid.
17:41That's right.
17:42And look what happened to Bill Clinton.
17:43Right.
17:43Now, if you could translate that for you, where would it be?
17:48Where would it take you to?
17:49What would be the equivalent of reaching the White House for you?
17:53There was a time when the name Charlie Rose commanded respect from American audiences,
17:57owing to his beloved 1991 PBS interview program, which shared his name.
18:01Known as a forum for thoughtful, intellectual conversation and debate about hot-button issues,
18:07Charlie Rose often starred well-known public figures, including celebrities and politicians.
18:11Has the diversity of your own ethnic background given you, made you, a better political animal?
18:21Yes.
18:22I think that having come out on the other side of it, starting off, it's tough.
18:30Rose's show featured interviews with every U.S. president from Jimmy Carter through Barack Obama.
18:35He also interviewed Donald Trump and Joe Biden before either man became president.
18:39Accused of 35 counts of grave misconduct starting in 2017,
18:43Rose was quickly removed from his position as co-anchor of CBS This Morning,
18:47and his self-titled talk show was immediately pulled from the air by PBS and Bloomberg Television.
18:52In a statement, CBS News president David Rhodes said,
18:54Despite Charlie's important journalistic contribution to our news division,
18:58there is absolutely nothing more important in this or any organization
19:02than ensuring a safe professional workplace.
19:05Number five, Bill O'Reilly.
19:06The reason, though, McGurk, they want Meatless Mondays in L.A. is so everybody's healthier.
19:12They need a little fish, you eat a carrot, you eat whatever.
19:14That is one of the motivations, but this is Bloomberg on blow.
19:18And why Mondays? Because of the alliteration.
19:21What's next? Tater tots on Tuesdays are going to take away?
19:23Weanerless Wednesdays?
19:24Much like his fellow Fox News personality, Megyn Kelly,
19:27O'Reilly was perhaps more famous for his controversial comments and public feuds
19:31than for his actual journalism and hosting.
19:33Claims of misconduct against the fiery commentator stretch back to as far as 2004,
19:38in which O'Reilly sued Andrea Macris, a former producer on his show,
19:41the O'Reilly factor, for extortion after she had claimed that he had subjected her to a lewd phone call.
19:46What was the exact reason you were given or your representatives were given
19:50by people at Fox News for your firing?
19:52There was no reason.
19:53They had a contractual clause that they could pay me a certain amount of money
20:00and not put me on the air.
20:02And they exercised that.
20:03But why did they exercise that?
20:05What was the reason they said they were exercising that?
20:07You know, there was a sponsored boycott.
20:07Although Macris and O'Reilly reached a settlement out of court,
20:10renewed claims of misconduct against O'Reilly cropped up in 2017,
20:14in addition to several lawsuits.
20:16Overwhelming public backlash led to Fox canceling the O'Reilly factor.
20:20O'Reilly has since attempted a comeback with the No Spin News podcast.
20:23You said at the time you did absolutely nothing wrong.
20:26Do you stand by that?
20:27I do.
20:28And so did you provide Fox News any evidence,
20:32any information that you think could have changed their mind
20:35as to what you were guilty or not guilty of?
20:37My legal team was very aggressive in putting forth our point of view,
20:41and that's all I'm going to say about it.
20:43Number four, Chris Cuomo.
20:44What was your reaction when you were fired?
20:48I didn't really have one.
20:49Brother to disgraced former New York governor Andrew,
20:52Chris Cuomo came under fire for his attempts to shield his brother
20:55from further fallout in the wake of Andrew's December 2020 accusations of misconduct.
21:00This was in addition to the ex-governor's perceived mishandling
21:03of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state of New York.
21:06Cuomo says he's never smeared anyone.
21:08He never went after any of his brother's accusers.
21:11Plus, the attorney general's office never accused him of that.
21:14But the documents, especially the text messages
21:17between Cuomo and his brother's aides,
21:19showed a level of coziness with the governor's staff
21:22that was alarming to many.
21:24The scandal came to light in May 2021
21:26when Cuomo was reported to have advised his brother
21:29on how to handle his situation.
21:31This included providing Andrew with information on his accusers
21:34gleaned from Chris's media connections.
21:36Although Cuomo has maintained that he never attempted
21:38to sway CNN's coverage of his brother in any way,
21:41he was dismissed from the network in early December 2021.
21:43You know, there'd been so much negativity,
21:47so intense for so long that I didn't see coming
21:53that I don't know if I were numb or whatever it was,
21:56but it was just one more thing that now I was going to have to deal with.
22:02And, you know, it's complicated.
22:04Number three, Tucker Carlson.
22:06When was the last time you heard a legitimate debate about any of those issues?
22:10It's been a long time.
22:12Debates like that are not permitted in American media.
22:15Both political parties and their donors have reached consensus on what benefits them,
22:21and they actively collude to shut down any conversation about it.
22:25Carlson, the infamously outspoken host of Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight,
22:29was abruptly dismissed from the network and his show canceled on April 24, 2023.
22:34The move to fire the wildly popular Carlson was met with bewilderment
22:37from both those in the world of television, media, and audiences,
22:40as well as from the former host himself.
22:42Suddenly, the United States looks very much like a one-party state.
22:46That's a depressing realization, but it's not permanent.
22:50Our current orthodoxies won't last.
22:53They're brain dead.
22:55Nobody actually believes them.
22:57Hardly anyone's life is improved by them.
23:00This moment is too inherently ridiculous to continue, and so it won't.
23:04Carlson, known for his well-documented history of sharing personal views and statements
23:08that were widely thought of as controversial and inflammatory,
23:11was reportedly terminated by Rupert Murdoch himself.
23:15This is alleged to have stemmed from Carlson's coverage of the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol,
23:20as well as private messages described as criticizing Fox News management
23:23while using offensive language.
23:25Carlson recounts a video showing a group of Trump guys surrounding an Antifa kid,
23:30and he says they started pounding the living crap out of him, three against one.
23:34Tucker Carlson goes on, quote,
23:36Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable, obviously.
23:40It's not how white men fight.
23:43Number two, Jeffrey Toobin.
23:45Hello, Allison.
23:46It's been a while.
23:46It has been a while, indeed.
23:48I feel like we should address what's happened in the months since we've seen you,
23:53since some of our viewers may not know what has happened.
23:57This author and CNN contributor has himself and the COVID-19 pandemic
24:01to blame for the egregious gaffe that found him dismissed from The New Yorker in November 2020.
24:06In a baffling move, Toobin was revealed to have exposed himself during a Zoom call with fellow New Yorker staffers
24:11and having engaged in, well, let's call it, inactive self-love.
24:15New Yorker has suspended the longtime writer Toobin himself,
24:18asked to be taken off the air at CNN while he deals with a, quote,
24:21personal issue.
24:22I'll say, what happens to Toobin now?
24:25His best-selling book about the O.J. Simpson trial,
24:27The Run of His Life, was the basis for the star-studded FX movie.
24:31Toobin had other books in development for Hollywood productions.
24:34The CNN correspondent and legal analyst immediately issued an effusive apology,
24:38stating that, I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake believing I was off-camera.
24:42I apologize to my wife, family, friends, and co-workers.
24:46CNN forgave Toobin, and he returned to the network in June 2021,
24:49characterizing the incident as being deeply moronic and indefensible.
24:53Have you ever thought about what it must have been like to be on the receiving end of that Zoom
24:57call?
24:58Well, I haven't just thought about it.
25:00I've spoken to several of my former colleagues at The New Yorker about it,
25:03and, you know, they were shocked and appalled.
25:09Number one, Matt Lauer.
25:11Just moments ago, NBC News chairman Andy Lack sent the following note to our organization.
25:15Dear colleagues, on Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague
25:19about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer.
25:24It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company's standards.
25:29Oof. Where do we even start with this one?
25:31Lauer was, at one point, the beloved co-host of NBC's Today,
25:34emerging as a trusted figure in news from the time of his 1997 promotion to the show.
25:39Lauer's popularity as a television host was reflected in his frequent cameos as himself
25:43in movies and television shows, seen as lending them an air of credibility.
25:47Let me get to your discovery, doctor, because...
25:49This is for you. I signed it.
25:55You're supposed to say the title on the publisher.
25:56That's not gonna happen.
25:58Just say it.
25:59No! Just say the damn title.
26:01Fine.
26:03Matt Lauer can suck it by Dr. Rick Marshall.
26:06That came to a screeching halt in 2017, when Lauer became one of the most prominent public
26:11figures exposed by the Me Too movement.
26:13In an example of the quote-unquote Weinstein effect, Lauer's genteel on-screen personality
26:18was obliterated by disturbing allegations from female Today staffers, which included accusations
26:24of full-blown assault on Lauer's part.
26:26Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth
26:31in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I regret that my shame is now
26:36shared by the people I cherish dearly. Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul-searching,
26:42and I'm committed to beginning that effort.
26:45Which entry on our list shocked you the most? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
26:49See you next time, we're looking forward to it, and we'll see you next time!
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