The set of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” reacted with shock to news that longtime “Today” anchor Matt Lauer had been fired from NBC News.
Buried, however, in more than 10 minutes of anguished analysis was an intriguing nugget from co-host Joe Scarborough, who said the recent epidemic of sexual misconduct allegations may next be heading to Silicon Valley.
“We’re at least hearing, — I say we, not NBC News — but I’ve heard, Mika and some other people have heard, it’s about to blow open in the tech sector. Some giants in the tech sector are next,” said Scarborough.
The bro-froward culture of Silicon Valley has long been accused of hostility toward women.
The industry was recently rocked by former Google engineer James Damore’s memo claiming that performative differences between men and women in the workplace were rooted primarily in biology rather than systemic discrimination. Damore was fired from Google after the memo went viral.
The Lauer news hit particularly hard on set with Willie Geist, who serves as host of NBC’s “Sunday Today” and has been a frequent stand-in for Lauer in the past. In an emotional monologue, Geist called his longtime colleague a “friend” and a “mentor.”
The news of Lauer’s departure was read live on the “Today” show by an emotional Savannah Guthrie, who was joined by her colleague Hoda Kotb.
“This is a sad morning here at ‘Today,’ and at NBC News,” said Guthrie. “As I’m sure you can imagine we are devastated, and we are still processing all of this.”
In a memo to employees sent early Wednesday, NBC News chairman Andy Lack said that he had received a “detailed complaint” from a staffer on Monday night about Lauer’s behavior in the workplace.
“It represented, after serious review a clear violation of our company’s standards,” Lack wrote. “While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over 20 years he’s been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.”