On Wednesday, reports surfaced stating that NBC’s Matt Lauer allegedly raped an NBC employee at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The news came out in a new book excerpt from Ronan Farrow centered on his investigation of Harvey Weinstein.
Variety got an early copy of the book, noting that Brooke Nevils—a former NBC News employee—alleges to Farrow that Lauer "anally raped her" in his hotel room during their time at the Sochi Olympics.
“It was nonconsensual in the sense that I was too drunk to consent," she said. "It was nonconsensual in that I said, multiple times, that I didn’t want to have anal sex." Per the Catch and Kill excerpt, Nevils was allegedly invited to Lauer's room following a night of drinks. Once inside the room, Nevils alleges that Lauer pushed her against the door, kissing her. He then allegedly pushed her onto the bed, flipped her over, and asked if she "liked anal sex." Nevils told Farrow she then declined multiple times when he "just did it.”
Well hours after these reports surfaced, Lauer himself has responded to the allegations, saying it’s false and that all the sexual encounters they had were consensual and mutual.
"In a new book, it is alleged that an extramarital, but consensual, sexual encounter I have previously admitted having, was in fact an assault. It is categorically false, ignores the facts, and defies common sense,” Matt penned in his statement.
He goes on ... "I had an extramarital affair with Brooke Nevils in 2014. It began when she came to my hotel room very late one night in Sochi, Russia. We engaged in a variety of sexual acts. We performed oral sex on each other, we had vaginal sex, and we had anal sex. Each act was mutual and completely consensual."
Matt also claims Nevils did not cry during the hotel encounter, nor did she behave as if it was an assault. In fact, he says she embraced him as she left. On top of that, Matt says he and Nevils continued their affair for months afterward, continuing to have sex.
Matt was fired from NBC after several allegations of harassment and misconduct surfaced. We’ll keep you posted if anything more develops from this story.