'Evil, frightening stuff': Matt Lauer is just the latest example of 'everyone knew'

Greg P. | 10:28 AM on November 29, 2017

It appears that Matt Lauer is the latest example of “everyone knew.”

Variety was working on a big story that the reporters claim NBC knew about:

At @Variety, @RaminSetoodeh & I had been working on a Matt Lauer story for months and NBC was aware. There are multiple women we've spoken to with far-ranging accusations against Lauer. The power of journalism has never been more evident with this cultural change.

— Elizabeth Wagmeister (@EWagmeister) November 29, 2017

The New York Times, too:

"The @nytimes and @Variety had been investigating alleged misconduct by Lauer for several weeks" — per @brianstelter, who also says he believes the New York Times will release a report later today https://t.co/NrNlx6KwV5

— Rebecca Cardenas (@RebeccaWSMV) November 29, 2017

Freelance journalist Yashar Ali was aware of “several women” who had come forward “even before Weinstein”:

I, and other reporters , have been aware of several women who have come forward privately in the past few months …even before Weinstein. They weren’t willing to go public though…they were terrified of Matt. https://t.co/jR3VV1AWGt

— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) November 29, 2017

But all these women were terrified to go public:

Matt Lauer put the fear of god into these women. He had relationships with reporters outside NBC that he cultivated just for this purpose. They knew that. https://t.co/47UKT8DuJA

— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) November 29, 2017

Lauer is among the worst I've heard about. Not in terms of the kind of misconduct but the way in which he manipulated these women into silence. It's evil, frightening stuff. https://t.co/5FiFmajUw0

— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) November 29, 2017