More than 60 woman have rallied behind Tom Brokaw amid the NBC News journalist’s ongoing sexual misconduct scandal.
“We are current and former colleagues of Tom’s, who have worked with him over a period spanning four decades,” reads the letter written by former “Tom Brokaw Reports” producer Elizabeth Bowyer. “We are producers, correspondents, anchors, directors, executives, researchers, personal assistants, editors and technical staff.”
Bowyer told Variety, which first broke the news of the allegations against Brokaw alongside the Washington Post on Thursday, that the response from women asking to have their name added to the letter was “overwhelming.”
The long list of names signed on the letter includes Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell and Maria Shriver.
“Tom has treated each of us with fairness and respect,” it reads. “He has given each of us opportunities for advancement and championed our successes throughout our careers. As we have advanced across industries — news, publishing, law, business and government — Tom has been a valued source of counsel and support. We know him to be a man of tremendous decency and integrity.”
On Thursday, The Washington Post and Variety published bombshell reports detailing the accounts of two women, former NBC correspondent Linda Vester and an unnamed former NBC News production assistant, who said that Brokaw made unwanted advances toward them in the 1990s, when he was the anchor of “NBC Nightly News.”
In an email sent to NBC News colleagues on Friday, Brokaw fired back and vigorously denied the allegations, referring to them as a “torrent of unsubstantiated criticism and attacks.”
Read the full letter below:
As professional women, we fully endorse the conversation around abuse of power in the workplace. In the context of that conversation, we would like to share our perspectives on working with Tom Brokaw.
We are current and former colleagues of Tom’s, who have worked with him over a period spanning four decades. We are producers, correspondents, anchors, directors, executives, researchers, personal assistants, editors and technical staff.
Tom has treated each of us with fairness and respect. He has given each of us opportunities for advancement and championed our successes throughout our careers. As we have advanced across industries — news, publishing, law, business and government — Tom has been a valued source of counsel and support. We know him to be a man of tremendous decency and integrity.
Signed,
Susanna Aaron
Anne Binford Allen
Heather Allan
Marilyn Altman
Liz Bowyer
Mary Casalino
Christine Colvin Casper
Martha Cotton
Karen Curry
Sara Cusimano
Helene Darvick
Linda Ellman
Judy Farinet
Dianne Festa
Tammy Fine
Mary Laurence Flynn
Susan Friedman
Soraya Gage
Maralyn Gelefsky
Cheryl Gould
Erika Beck Grothues
Colleen Halpin
Jody Henenfeld
Susan Morris Holey
Julie Holstein
Julie Huang
Peggy Hubble
Kiko Itasaka
Nancy Jacoby
Kat Keeney
Ann Kolbell
Audrey Beles Kolina
Susan LaSalla
Rachel Maddow
Donna Mastrangelo-Ryan
Andrea Mitchell
Mauri Moore
Frieda Morris
Elena Nachmanoff
Michele Neubert
Kelly O’Donnell
Bonnie Optekman
Mary Alice O’Rourke
Nancy Doyle Palmer
Polly Powell
Meaghan Rady
Elizabeth Vaughan Romaine
Amy Rosenberg
Stephanie Ruhle
Bita Ryan
Ruby Shamir
Maria Shriver
Robin Skolnick
Andrea Smith
Patricia Sullivan
Clare Duffy Swift
Yuka Tachibana
Bambi Tascarella
Zoya Taylor
Dee Dee Thomas
Anne Thompson
Kelly Venardos
Kristen Welker
Carolyn Wheatley
Mary Wolf