Wednesday’s late night TV shows were brimming with jokes about Matt Lauer’s sacking for alleged sexual misconduct, including by his former NBC co-star Jimmy Fallon.
The comedian opened The Tonight Show by noting the recent lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree before adding: ‘Also getting lit tonight, the HR rep over at the Today Show.’
He went on: ‘If you’re wondering where in the world is Matt Lauer, he’s probably at a bar with Charlie Rose.’
Jimmy Fallon opened The Tonight Show by noting the recent lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree before adding: ‘Also getting lit tonight, the HR rep over at the Today Show.’
Rose was fired from CBS’ This Morning earlier this month after eight women accused him of sexual harassment.
Fallon wasn’t the only one to turn the knife in Lauer’s wounds as Comedy Central’s Daily Show host Trevor Noah said of TV sex offenders: ‘Soon they’ll have enough to start their own perv news network.’
Stephen Colbert joined in by opening his show with the line: ‘Welcome to The Late Show. I am your host, Stephen Colbert. I am one of the few men still allowed on television.’
And Conan O’Brien opened his TBS show by saying: ‘Longtime show anchor Matt Lauer was fired because he was caught engaging in sexually inappropriate behavior.
‘Afterwards, Lauer said, “Maybe having all those people looking in the windows wasn’t such a great idea after all,” he joked.’
Meanwhile, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel quipped: ‘Does Matt Lauer have to do an emotional sit-down interview with himself?’
Stephen Colbert joined in by opening his show with the line: ‘Welcome to The Late Show. I am your host, Stephen Colbert. I am one of the few men still allowed on television.’
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel quipped: ‘Does Matt Lauer have to do an emotional sit-down interview with himself?’
Charlie Rose was fired from CBS’ This Morning earlier this month after eight women accused him of sexual harassment
Earlier on Wednesday a married NBC staffer claimed she woke up in 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.
Earlier on Wednesday a married NBC staffer claimed she woke up in Lauer’s office with her pants halfway down her legs after having sex with the anchor until she passed out
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.
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.
No laughing matter: Matt Lauer (above in 2014 at the Sochi Olympics) is accused of sexually harassing a number of female employees, who detailed their alleged encounters with the Today host in Variety
Cartoon villain: Lauer reportedly had a button under his desk at 30 Rock (above) that allowed him to lock the door while inside the office. A woman said that she had sex with the anchor in 2001 until she passed out, and eventually woke up on his floor with her pants down
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.
NBC executives said the damning evidence ‘showed incontrovertible proof of inappropriate sexual behavior on his part’, Page Six reported.
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.
Lauer is said to have sexted female coworkers during his stint at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. He is seen interviewing members of the USA Women’s Hockey Team