Variety publishes lurid story charging Matt Lauer with sexual mi - WECT TV6-WECT.com:News, weather & sports Wilmington, NC

(RNN) - Variety has published the lurid article it had already been working on for weeks when NBC suddenly fired Today Show co-host Matt Lauer on Wednesday for allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior at work.

NBC announced Wednesday that its star news man had been fired from his $25-million-a-year job after an NBC employee complained on Monday night about improper sexual conduct. Variety said the behavior began at the Sochi Olympics in 2014 and continued for several months.

[Read the Variety story here.]

The magazine, along with the New York Times, had been investigating allegations of sexual misconduct by Lauer, performing “dozens of interviews” with current and former staff members at NBC.

Variety wrote that it had talked to three women who said they were sexually harassed at work by Lauer, and their stories were corroborated by friends and colleagues the accusers told of the incidents at the time they allegedly occurred.

NBC News Chairman Andy Lack said the complaint filed on Monday was the first in Lauer’s more than 20 years with the company, but they acted quickly and notified Lauer of his dismissal late Tuesday night.

“We were also presented with reason to believe that this may not have been an isolated incident,” Lack said in a statement that was read live on Wednesday's Today Show by Lauer’s co-host Savannah Guthrie.

But Variety said it had spoken to several other women who said they had complained to management with no results.

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