Matt Lauer has been fired by NBC News after over 20 years.
The 59-year-old presenter was dismissed from ‘Today’ – which he has anchored since 1994 – overnight following a complaint about "inappropriate sexual behaviour", with bosses believing the incident was not a one-off.
The programme’s usual co-host, Savannath Guthrie, opened the show on Wednesday (29.11.17) with a statement from Andrew Lack, chairman of NBC News.
The statement read: "On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company’s standards. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment.
"While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he’s been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.
"Our highest priority is to create a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected, and to ensure that any actions that run counter to our core values are met with consequences, no matter who the offender.
"We are deeply saddened by this turn of events. But we will face it together as a news organisation – and do it in as transparent a manner as we can. To that end, Noah and I will be meeting with as many of you as possible throughout the day today to answer your questions."
The 45-year-old presenter admitted she’d only just heard the news herself and was "heartbroken" by the situation.
She said: "We just learned this moments ago, just this morning. As I’m sure you can imagine, we are devastated and we are still processing all of this.
"And I will tell you right now, we do not know more than what I just shared with you.
"But we will be covering this story as reporters, as journalists. I’m sure we will be learning more details in the hours and days to come, and we promise we will share that with you.
"We are heartbroken. I’m heartbroken for Matt – he is my dear, dear friend and my partner, and he has been loved by many, many people here.
"And I’m heartbroken for the brave colleague who came forward to tell her story, and any other women who have their own stories to tell."
Savannah was joined on the show by Hoda Kotb in Matt’s place, and the 53-year-old star admitted it had been a "tough morning".
She said: "It’s hard to reconcile with what we are hearing with the man who we know, who walks in this building every single day.
"We were both woken up with the news, kind of pre-dawn, and we’re trying to process it and trying to make sense of it – and it’ll take some time for that."
Matt Lauer fired from Today
