NBC was slammed on Twitter Wednesday after it conducted an internal investigation into how the network handled allegations of sexual harassment against Matt Lauer and found there is "no evidence" any NBC senior executives knew about Lauer's behavior.
Lauer was fired from NBC in November after allegations of sexual harassment became public and scandal permeated the widely watched "Today" morning show, the Washington Post reports.
"We found no evidence indicating that any NBC News or Today Show leadership, HR or others in positions of authority in the News Division received any complaints about Lauer’s workplace behavior prior to Nov. 27, 2017," NBC's report summarizing the investigation said. "All four women who came forward confirmed that they did not tell their direct manager or anyone else in a position of authority about their sexual encounters with Lauer. Current and former members of NBC News and Today Show leadership, as well as News HR, stated that they had never received a complaint about inappropriate workplace behavior by Lauer, and we did not find any contrary evidence."
"We cannot change the past. What we can do is learn from it, and try to make it right," NBC News chairman Andrew Lack said.
The report drew instant criticism from twitter users and those on the political right for presenting the investigation as credible when it was conducted by NBC.
NBC higher ups investigated NBC higher ups & found that NBC higher ups had no knowledge of misconduct of one if its highest paid stars. https://t.co/8q2cDRMmsd
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) May 9, 2018
NBC determined NBC did nothing wrong https://t.co/eOIGITJpYd
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) May 9, 2018
I'm sure the network that approved the installation of Lauer's desk-mounted, secret door lock were all over this. https://t.co/Ae5BcXyGcY
— Nate Madden (@NateMaddenCRTV) May 9, 2018
Guess that’s that...🙄 pic.twitter.com/5Z03SYnZH5
— Scott Maier (@samaier) May 9, 2018
NBC's Matt Lauer report finds "no evidence" that leadership knew of workplace behavior complaints.
And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.😁😁😁😁
— CindyForTrump (@immigrant_legal) May 9, 2018
NBC investigation into NBC wrongdoing finds no wrongdoing on part of NBC. https://t.co/6xPBYbW0xD
— J.R. Salzman (@jrsalzman) May 9, 2018
Spiked the Weinstein story ✅
Overlooked Matt Lauer giving sex toys and using a button to lock his office when women came in ✅
Allegations about Tom Brokaw as far back as the 90s ✅
Culture of sexual harassment ❌Yeah, okay. https://t.co/pWGlk8swbX
— James Hasson (@JamesHasson20) May 9, 2018
Why would NBC say anything different about Matt Lauer? If they admitted compliancy they would open themselves up to massive litigation.
— The Kurgan (@TheKurgan316) May 9, 2018