Joe Scarborough left Matt Lauer roast over sex life jokes

Matt Lauer’s sexual escapades with co-workers at NBC were no secret to Joe Scarborough he revealed on Thursday.

The Morning Joe host and his fiancee Mika Brzezinski were discussing the latest news of the scandal on their show, and both admitted they were well aware of rumors and whispers about Lauer’s sex life. 

‘We all have to they that when this story broke, to be very honest, I was not shocked and so what does that mean? Does that mean I should have said something? I don’t know Matt Lauer. I never work with him,’ said Brzezinski. 

‘But I’ve always heard stories about him kind of fooling around or whatever. Everyone has, I even remember you coming from some event where it was the joke of the day.’

That ‘joke of the day’ it turns out was Lauer’s 2008 roast at the Friar’s Club in New York City, which Scarborough revealed he ended up leaving before it was over because he was so uncomfortable. 

Guests at that event Katie Couric, Meredith Vieira, Al Roker, Ann Curry, Donald Trump and Howard Stern 

A-listers: Guests at the event included Katie Couric, Meredith Vieira, Al Roker, Ann Curry, Donald Trump and Howard Stern (l to r: Lauer, Curry, Vieiera and Roker)

‘There were a thousand people in the audience like the most powerful people in media and everybody that came up was making fun of Matt Lauer, about pushing himself on people,’ said Scarborough.

‘But the whole theme was he does the show and then he has sex with people, with employees. So was this whispered behind closed doors? No, it was shouted from the mountaintops and everybody laughed about it, which tells you what culture used to be.’

Scarborugh then noted: ‘It’s very interesting that NBC quoted as a reporter, I know you saw it, “current.” Exactly, “current NBC management.”‘

Brzezinski then gave her take on the scandal. 

‘Here’s the thing, I think the convention was consensual sex. Well, consensual sex is not against the law, but 99 out of 100 times it’s a bad idea,’ she explained.

‘So what you have is a culture where women and men are laughing about the jokes. Maybe some women are thinking it’s really funny. Maybe they think it’s okay. It’s not black and white here, where only men think that harassing women is okay.’

She added: ‘Some women participate in sexual misconduct which gets them ahead, other women are left out. I have been in situations like that before.’

A bit later in the segment however Brzezisnki got heated while again explaining that there is no humor in jokes like the ones told at Lauer’s roast.

‘So what have we learned? What we learned from this. We will be talking more about this but those jokes weren’t funny, like there are conversations and there are lines, we are in a new place at work where we can’t even allow something to be accepted in the form of a joke, because it is not funny,’ said Brzezinski. 

‘Because it is telling other people in the room that it’s okay what’s happening and that maybe they can’t have a voice. I didn’t realize this.’

That is when Scarborough confessed he walked out of the roast.

‘I remember sitting there, like, wait, this is? Wait, what’s going on? I actually left early, but I’ve got to say, because, and I remember, I came back and it was  like shocked by what I had just seen and I’m not shocked by much,’ said Scarborough. 

‘But it’s the same thing when you talk about the culture.’

Lauer’s co-worker Willie Geist had been silent until then, but jumped in to say: ‘The details of the reports are so appalling and so disgusting and so disappointing to a person we knew professionally sitting on a set that I can’t believe what I’m hearing or reading.’ 

Dyed and gone to heaven: President Trump, an NBC employee at the time, was at the event as well as Couric (above)

Anfry Willie: ‘The details of the reports are so appalling and so disgusting and so disappointing,’ said Willie Geist of the developments in the Lauer story (above on Thursday)

Natalie Morales also spoke about the fallout in the wake of these revelations on Access Hollywood later that day.

‘Savannah, Hoda and Al putting on a brave show at last night’s Christmas tree lighting. All smiles with the clear tension,’ noted Morales.

‘Al did put out the nice Instagram pic, not this one, but this was yesterday as the show, they were discovering the news.’

Morales then went on to discuss the amount of work that had to be done prior to air time by the three and the crew at NBC.

LAUER ADMITS SHAME AND WRONGDOING

There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions. To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry.

The last two days have forced me to take a very hard look at my troubling flaws. It has been humbling.

Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized. But there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed.

I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly.’

As I am writing this I realize the depth of the damage and disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC  

I am blessed to be surrounded by the people I love. I thank them for their patience and grace.

Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul searching and I’m committed to beginning that effort. It is now my full time job.

‘It had to be really hard because the producers had to edit out some of the segments because some of the singers were prerecorded and they had to edit around Matt’s part because he had did parts of the introductions,’said Morales, going on to say that people she spoke with at the network were ‘shocked’ at the new claims.

‘And it all unfolded live as you saw on TV yesterday, with Savannah and Hoda and Al on TV all processed it as they were getting tha,t and they really delivered such heartfelt emotions in that very raw moment and, you know, I can’t say enough about how well they handled that.’

Morales went on to say: ‘And they really learned about this just moments before going on the air.’

She then confirmed reports that the email was sent to staff announcing the news 10 minutes before Today aired on Wednesday.

Hoda Kotb was in again for Lauer on Friday, just as she was the two previous days.

During the opening segment on Thursday, Today also highlighted the comments made by Morales on Tuesday, who urged the network to do the right thing before stating: ‘When and if she wants to tell her story publicly, I’m sure she will, but it did take a lot of courage for her to come forward. It was no doubt a very painful decision.’

Lauer’s apology, read out on the show, came hours after more graphic details of the allegations against the host emerged.

In one allegation, a married NBC staffer claimed she woke up in Matt Lauer’s office with her pants halfway down her legs after having sex with the anchor until she passed out.

The woman told The New York Times that the longtime Today Show host’s assistant had to take her to see a nurse after the alleged encounter in 2001.

The former employee, who was in her 40s at the time, said Lauer first made advances towards her while covering a story away from their New York headquarters in the late 1990s.

She described moving away from him during a car journey to the airport because he was sitting ‘uncomfortably close’, to which he apparently replied: ‘You’re no fun’.

Then, in 2001, she claims the married Lauer summoned her to his office at 30 Rock in New York to discuss work. She says he then used a button under his desk to lock the door and then told her to unbutton her blouse.

She said the veteran broadcaster then stepped out from behind his desk, pulled out a chair, bent her over, and started having sex with her until she fell unconscious.

The woman told The Times she woke up a while later on the floor of his office with her pants halfway down her legs, prompting his assistant to take her to seek medical attention.

The ex-staffer, who has not been named, is one of a string of women who have come forward accusing Lauer of sexual misconduct.

She did not tell NBC about the alleged incident at the time because she thought she could have done more to stop Lauer’s actions, and she left around a year later.

Here’s Matt: Matt Lauer was photographed by DailyMail.com driving out from behind the gates of his $33million Hamptons estate on Thursday morning 

List: Lauer headed nto town where he met with an unidentified gentleman, handing him an envelope in the street after stepping out of his car

Another day: Today show hosts  Savannah Guthrie on the set in New York Thursday (above)

Back at it: Hoda Kotb was once again in for Lauer on the show (above on Thursday) 

NBC executives fired Lauer on Tuesday night soon after they saw a string of lewd messages and explicit photos he sent an intern during the Sochi Olympics, reports suggest.

His departure was announced by visibly-shaken co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on Wednesday morning, and a number of explosive stories on his alleged conduct during his time at the Rockefeller Center quickly followed.

He has been accused of flashing his penis at one woman and buying another a sex toy.  

There was also a stunning revelation that he had a button under his desk that would lock to the door to his office.

It was a security-measure used by most high-profile employees at NBC, but Lauer allegedly used it at least once so he could have sex with the NBC staffer in 2001.

The NBC investigation that led to his spectacular downfall was sparked by an intern who accused him of sexually assault at the beginning in 2014 at the Sochi Olympics.

She shared her account with the human resources and legal departments of NBC News on Monday – Lauer was fired just 24 hours later.

He was sacked so quickly because of lewd messages he sent the female staffer, and at least one explicit picture.

Variety also spoke with 10 past and present workers at the company who accused Lauer of a vast array of sexual misconduct, including the intern who claims she was attacked at Sochi.

NBC’s swift response was still not enough for some women however, who said their complaints to executives at the company fell on deaf ears.