Brooke Nevils, Matt Lauer Accuser, Speaks Out in Emotional First TV Interview
- Former NBC talent assistant Brooke Nevils alleges in a CNN interview that former Today co-anchor Matt Lauer sexually assaulted her during the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia.
Warning: The following post contains allegations of sexual assault.
In her first TV interview, former NBC talent assistant Brooke Nevils tearfully recounted her interactions with Matt Lauer and her allegations that the former Today co-anchor sexually assaulted her.
Nevils recently sat down with CNN’s Pamela Brown to discuss her new book, Unspeakable Things: Silence, Shame, and the Stories We Choose to Believe . In the book, Nevils alleged Lauer anally raped her after he joined her and then- Today co-anchor Meredith Vieira for drinks during NBC’s time covering the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia, per The Hollywood Reporter .
And in the CNN interview, which aired on Thursday, Nevils explained why it took her years to understand her experience.
“We have this trope that victims claim rape to avoid accountability. But in order to come forward with an allegation, you are essentially taking accountability for every mistake you’ve ever made in your life, and you’re putting a target on your back,” she said. “And in my situation, I knew what would happen if… You know, Matt Lauer, at that point at NBC, could literally do no wrong. So it was unthinkable to imagine that it could be anything other than a misunderstanding, and it took me years.”
As someone who had grown up watching Lauer on Today , Nevils bought into the former anchor’s reputation. “He was seen as the Today show,” she explained. “He was old enough to be my father. My brain almost just could not compute the idea that he could do anything wrong.”
She continued: “So, in a situation where one person can do no wrong, and you are the person that is supposed to keep that person happy, the only conclusion you can reach is that it has to be your fault. It must have been something I did, something I said. Why did I put myself in that position?
“When you’re in a position of power over someone and you see someone who’s young enough to be your daughter, who is drunk and alone in a foreign country, the normal response is to want to protect them, to want to help them,” Nevils said. “It’s not to try to take advantage of them. But because I was so steeped in this culture, it took me years to see that.”
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In 2019, after Nevils’ allegation went public in the Ronan Farrow book Catch and Kill , Lauer released a statement denying that he had nonconsensual sex , as Variety reported at the time. “The story Brooke tells is filled with false details intended only to create the impression this was an abusive encounter,” Lauer wrote, in part. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Responding to that statement from Lauer on CNN, Nevils said, “Is that easy for me to hear? No. It’s devastating. It makes me feel ashamed, but at the same time, I listen to that, and I can’t believe I was ever alone in a room with that person.”
At the end of the interview, Nevils said, “Until we talk about the messy gray areas, until we talk about how power impacts someone’s ability to consent — how you have to have the power to say yes or no, [how] you have to think about the position you’re putting someone in — this is just going to keep happening. And that’s why I wrote the book. We just have to do better.”
If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network ’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or a loved one is in immediate danger, call 911.
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