00:00I'll let the facts in the book speak for themselves, but I think that is difficult to believe
00:03when you look at the documents and records."
00:04Ronan Farrow is standing by his reporting in his new book Catch and Kill, despite being
00:09hit back with statements from both NBC executives and Matt Lauer. Appearing on ABC's
00:14Good Morning America, Farrow refuted the statements given by top NBC executives in
00:18regards to Farrow's reporting about his investigation into Harvey Weinstein, and also
00:22fired back at Lauer's open letter in which he defended himself against a sexual assault
00:26claim from Meredith Vieira's former producer that occurred during the 2014 Winter Olympics.
00:32Farrow's new book details NBC's alleged secret payouts and attempts to cover up Lauer's
00:36alleged indiscretions, as well as Weinstein's sexual misconduct allegations. The book dives
00:41into how Lauer may have played a role in the network's decision to kill Farrow's
00:45Weinstein expose that the reporter had originally planned to take to NBC, but eventually
00:50published in The New Yorker. This expose was the catalyst that eventually kicked off
00:54the MeToo movement. Farrow spoke to GMA's George Stephanopoulos, reiterating that NBC
00:58News ordered a hard stop to reporting on Weinstein.
01:01They told me and a producer working on this that we should not take a single call. They
01:05told us to cancel interviews. The question for years has been, why? Because every journalist
01:10at that institution didn't understand why.
01:13Following these claims made about NBC's cover-up, NBC News chairman Andy Lack said in a Wednesday
01:18memo to his staff that they had only learned of Lauer's behavior on the night of November 27, 2017,
01:23after Vieira's producer Brooke Nevels filed her complaint, adding he was fired in
01:2824 hours. Lack also noted,
01:30Any suggestion that we knew prior to that evening or tried to cover up any aspect of
01:35Lauer's conduct is absolutely false and offensive.
01:38But Farrow doubled down on his reporting, again refuting NBC's statement, saying his
01:42book outlines a paper trail and documents that show multiple secret settlements and
01:46nondisclosures being struck with women at NBC News, including ones involving Lauer, adding
01:51that this was years before the incident with Nevels. In regards to Nevels' claims, which
01:55Lauer called in his lengthy open letter, false and salacious allegations leveled at me, Farrow
02:00told Stephanopoulos that her claims were extensively fact-checked and backed by documentation and
02:05eyewitnesses.
02:06The facts of her case, which were backed by documentation and eyewitnesses, suggest that
02:11there was an encounter here that she consistently has described as nonconsensual.
02:16Farrow also discussed that there is importance and significance in his reporting, saying this is
02:20a pattern in media, in law, in politics. Institutions that conceal abuse of this type let people
02:26get hurt and that's something we should all care about.
02:28For more on this story head to THR.com. For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
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