Brooke Nevils, who rose to fame in 2017 after accusing now-disgraced journalist Matt Lauer of sexual assault, could not contain her emotions as she recalled her experience with the alleged “superstar harasser” while discussing her book, “The Unspeakable: Silence, Shame, and the Stories We Choose to Believe” in an interview Thursday.
“When I was researching this book, I interviewed a forensic psychologist who casually mentioned this EEOC report. Then I looked it up and it talked about ‘superstar harassers,'” Nevils told CNN anchor Pamela Brown.
The Affairs Committee’s report warned employers about potential “rainmakers” who are “recognized to be of great value to the company and can do no wrong.”
“At that point, NBC’s Matt Lauer literally couldn’t have done anything wrong,” Nevils said of the former Today show anchor elsewhere in the interview, explaining that it was “unthinkable” to believe her accusations were “nothing but a misunderstanding.”
Nevils previously claimed that Lauer, now 68, worked as Meredith Vieira’s personal assistant and anally raped her in a hotel room while she was covering the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. She claimed she was too drunk at the time to consent.
She later revealed that she continued to have “sexual” interactions with Lauer after returning to New York.
“My job was to smooth things over for the talent, so I thought, ‘This, I know how to do this. I can smooth this over.’ So I went back, and the first thing that happened when I got back was that he suggested I come see him at his apartment,” she said in an interview Thursday.
“When you’re sitting in the Today show anchor’s dressing room in Studio 1A, are you really in a position to say no? Of course not. And that’s happened over and over again.”
“What was most confusing was that each time I thought I was solving the problem. I was taking back control, but in reality, I was involving myself in my own abuse. And by the time I realized I was trapped, I knew I was responsible for everything, and I was blaming myself,” she explained.
A representative for Mr. Lauer did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
In 2017, Ms. Nevils filed a formal complaint against Mr. Lauer, and within 24 hours, Mr. Lauer was fired from his roles on the “Today” show and NBC, and several other women came forward with allegations against him.
Nevils detailed the alleged assault in graphic detail in her memoir.
“It hurt to walk, it hurt to sit, it hurt to remember,” she says. She went on to reveal that she received an email from Lauer later that day that read, “Please don’t call me or write me. My feelings are hurt. How are you?”
“I had no idea how to react, but I knew asking for help would only make things worse,” Nevils wrote in her memoir. “That’s what shameful secrets are like. To trust someone is to give them power over you. I was completely alone, drowning in the mundane.”
The Unspeakable: Silence, Shame, and the Stories We Choose to Believe is available now wherever books are sold.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call our Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
