NBC News announced on Wednesday, November 29, that Matt Lauer was fired overnight after a colleague accused him of sexual misconduct in the workplace. Just 24 hours before the news broke, the Today show veteran appeared on air per usual to discuss the morning news.
Alongside cohost Savannah Guthrie, Lauer, 59, reported on a range of topics early Tuesday, November 28, including a plane collision at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, an American graduate student who was imprisoned in Iran and the engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The journalist also cohosted NBC’s live coverage of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday, November 23, a gig he held since 1998. He was joined by his Today cohosts Guthrie, 45, and Al Roker, both of whom addressed the termination news at the top of the morning show on Wednesday.
In addition, Lauer was slated to cohost the 2017 Rockefeller Center tree lighting ceremony on NBC on Wednesday evening. Though portions of the holiday special were pre-taped, it is unlikely he will appear due to his firing.
“We are devastated,” a visibly emotional Guthrie said on Today while holding hands with Hoda Kotb. “All we can say is we are heartbroken.”
NBC News chairman Andrew Lack first announced the news in an email to staffers. He wrote that a “detailed complaint” was received from a colleague late Monday, November 27. Lack said in his email that he believes “this may not have been an isolated incident,” adding that he was “deeply saddened by this turn of events.”
