Matt Lauer made a joke in 2009 about sleeping with interviews to a potential guest for the Today Show that left her so ‘queasy’ that she declined the opportunity to appear on the morning show.
Nell Scovell, former writer for The Late Show with David Letterman, wrote about this and other issues women face in media, in her memoir, ‘Just the Funny Parts… And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking into the Hollywood Boys’ Club,’ which comes out next month.
An excerpt was published by Vanity Fair on Thursday that reveals how Lauer turned her off from discussing ‘gender in the writing room’ on NBC.
Nell Scovell wrote in her forthcoming memoir that Matt Lauer ‘joked’ in 2009 about sleeping with interns, which helped her decide not to discuss gender discrimination in the workplace on the Today Show
Scovell said that the conversation took place when she was invited to appear on the Today Show to discuss the article she wrote for Vanity Fair about Letterman’s unfair treatment of his female staff, shortly after he admitted on air that he had slept with women who worked for him.
Scovell had already declined one offer to come on the show, when Lauer called her to try to convince her to change her mind, she said.
The woman who had just written a noisy article about sexual discrimination in the workplace wrote that she told Lauer that she had decided against discussing the topic on television because’people want to hear about interns in the bedroom, and I want to talk about gender in the writers’ room.’
The opportunity to appear on the show that Matt Laur hosted came after Scovell wrote an article about hostile work conditions for women during her time writing for The Late Show with David Letterman
In considering the option to take the offer to be on the show, Scovell wrote that she asked Lauer, ‘You’re OK if I don’t discuss Dave sleeping with interns?’
To that, she wrote, that Lauer replied with a laugh, ‘Hey, I couldn’t be held to that high standard.’
Scovell was not amused. ‘Matt’s “joke” made me queasy,’ she wrote. ‘With apologies, I passed a second time.’
The conversation came about, in the first place, because Letterman was being blackmailed. He was a married man, who was having affairs with staffers, and someone had found out.
Scovell recounted what happened, back in October 2009, that led to her article about her six months of employment on Letterman’s show.
‘[On] October 1, 2009, Dave sat at his desk and informed his TV audience that he’d been the victim of a blackmail attempt. The crowd thought it was a joke and laughed. Dave continued, dead serious,’ Scovell wrote.
‘He explained that “a guy,” Robert “Joe” Halderman, had threatened to expose him for doing “terrible, terrible things” and also “some creepy stuff.”
‘”And the creepy stuff,” Dave elaborated, “was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show. My response to that is, yes, I have.”‘
Scovell wrote that the audience in that taping applauded wildly for the comedian, in that very serious moment. She also wrote about how his actions were so openly accepted, even normalized, by the likes of media icons, like Barbara Walters.
No one who worked on the show was surprised by this news, although we were shocked that Dave admitted publicly what we’d been whispering about for decades.
‘Dave pretty much got a pass for his own underlying misconduct [that prompted the blackmail],’ Scovell wrote. ‘No one seemed to think the “terrible things” he’d done were terrible at all.’
Lauer (left) ‘joked’ to Scovell in 2009: ‘Hey, I couldn’t be held to that high standard,’ in reference to her unwillingness to discuss Letterman’s (right) affairs with interns
It would be eight years later, almost to the day, when Lauer would be ousted from his role as the proverbial King of the Today Show, when women came forward alleging improper sexual interactions and abuse of power against him, for actions he’s accused of committing while working for NBC.
Lauer is just one of the prominent men in media to be forced to reckon with decades of the kind of treatment that Scovell wrote about in 2009, and has further explored in her forthcoming memoir.
Her book comes now at the height of what has come to be known as the #MeToo movement, where women have felt empowered to share their experiences of sexual harassment and unfair treatment due to gender discrimination in the workplace.
The social media aspect of this campaign kicked off in October, when producer Harvey Weinstein was first accused publicly of decades of these types of transgressions.
The first iteration of the Me Too, however, was started offline, 12 years ago, by activist Tarana Burke.
Now, Burke and Scovell are in good company, as they continue to advocate for transparency and parity in the workplace.
Scovell’s ‘Just the Funny Parts’ is scheduled to be released on March 20 by Dey Street.
Letterman would be largely absolved of his misconduct, as he came forward rather than succumb to blackmail; Scovell’s book is out March 20