Tom Brokaw accused of sexual harassment by two women

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http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/tom-...nt-1202789627/

Both Variety and The Washington Post are reporting that former NBC News correspondent Linda Vester has accused the legendary NBC News anchor of sexual harassment in the 1990s, when Vester was 28. In a story accompanied by video of Vester, Variety reports: "in a series of interviews with Variety conducted over several months, Vester alleged that Brokaw physically tried to force her to kiss him on two separate occasions, groped her in a NBC conference room and showed up at her hotel room uninvited. Two friends who Vester told at the time corroborated her story with Variety, and she shared her journal entries from the time period. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that "another woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also has told The Post that Brokaw acted inappropriately toward her in the ’90s, when she was a young production assistant and he was an anchor." Brokaw is denying both alleged incidents. In a statement, Brokaw told Variety: “I met with Linda Vester on two occasions, both at her request, 23 years ago because she wanted advice with respect to her career at NBC. The meetings were brief, cordial and appropriate, and despite Linda’s allegations, I made no romantic overtures towards her at that time or any other.”

Tom Brokaw slams accuser as having "trouble with the truth": "I was ambushed and then perp walked"

Brokaw sent an email to his NBC News colleagues this morning saying he is "angry, hurt and unmoored," offering his rebuttal to former NBC News correspondent Linda Vester's sexual harassment allegations. Brokaw said he did visit her hotel room and her apartment in the 1990s, but her story is wrong. His attempt to kiss her, he said, was a "perfunctory goodnight kiss" on the cheek when he was leaving. "My NBC colleagues are bewildered that Vester, who had limited success at NBC News, a modest career at Fox and a reputation as a colleague who had trouble with the truth was suddenly the keeper of the flame of journalistic integrity," he says in the email. Brokaw, who did not address the anonymous accuser in The Washington Post's article, added: "I am not a perfect person. I’ve made mistakes, personally and professionally. But as I write this at dawn on the morning after a drive by shooting by Vester, the Washington Post and Variety, I am stunned by the free ride given a woman with a grudge against NBC News, no distinctive credentials or issue passions while at FOX." Brokaw said Vester "came to Me:Too late," and criticized her for not calling him in advance to discusses her issues with him. "Instead she became a character assassin," he wrote. "Strip away all of the hyperbole and what has she achieved? What was her goal? Hard to believe it wasn’t much more Look At Me than Me:Too." ALSO: Brokaw cancels commencement speech amid sexual harassment allegations.

NBC News boss acknowledges Tom Brokaw allegations, says Matt Lauer investigation is "nearing its conclusion"

NBC News chairman Andy Lack said in a memo to his staffers that the results of the Lauer investigation could be available "as soon as next week." As for Brokaw, he said: "As you have all seen now in reports from last night, there are allegations against Tom Brokaw, made by a former NBC News journalist, which Tom emphatically denies. As we’ve shown, we take allegations such as these very seriously, and act on them quickly and decisively when the facts dictate." ALSO: Did Ann Curry imply that NBC's human resources leaders were accused of sexual misconduct?

Tom Brokaw receives backing from Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell and more than 60 current and former female NBC staffers

Maria Shriver and Kelly O’Donnell are also among the 64 women who signed the open letter. "Tom has treated each of us with fairness and respect," the letter states. "He has given each of us opportunities for advancement and championed our successes throughout our careers. As we have advanced across industries — news, publishing, law, business and government — Tom has been a valued source of counsel and support. We know him to be a man of tremendous decency and integrity."

Report: Female NBC News staffers felt pressure to sign the open letter supporting Tom Brokaw
One anonymous NBC News staffer tells Page Six: "We felt forced to sign the letter supporting Brokaw. We had no choice, particularly the lower level staffers. The letter was being handed around the office and the unspoken threat was that if your name was not on it, there would be some repercussion down the road. Execs are watching to see who signed and who didn’t. This was all about coming out in force to protect NBC’s golden boy; the network’s reputation is tied to Brokaw . . . If more women come forward, that’s a big problem.”

When reporting on Tom Brokaw, NBC News staffers were urged to mention the letter in support of him
On Monday, NBC News staffers received a memo on guidelines for how to handle the Brokaw sexual harassment allegations. “Include relevant portions of Brokaw’s denial, his email and the email in support of him, signed by more than 60 colleagues,” said the memo. Some staffers were shocked by the NBC News guidelines because the letter signed by Brokaw's current and former female colleagues had become a source of tension. In fact, Megyn Kelly was going "rogue" when she said Monday of the letter, “The truth is, you don’t know what you don’t know." ALSO: If NBC News staffers were forced to sign the Brokaw letter, it can be a huge legal problem.

A third woman accuses Tom Brokaw of unwanted advances, from 50 years ago
Veteran reporter Mary Reinholz writes in The Villager that she was a young reporter in late 1960s Los Angeles when Brokaw, after helping her with a story, came over to her home and embraced her and French kissed her while they were sitting on a couch. At the time, Brokaw was an anchor on Los Angeles NBC affiliate KNBC. "I pulled away, reminding him that he was married and a tryst was out of the question. He said, 'Yes, it would be unfair to Meredith,' meaning his wife," she says. Reinholz is the second named woman to accuse Brokaw of sexual impropriety, after former NBC News alum Linda Vester. Another woman came forward anonymously to The Washington Post.

Guilty or not, Tom Brokaw's ripping of his main sexual harassment accuser was out of the Bill Clinton/Bill Cosby playbook
"The legendary journalist’s wounded response to accusations of sexual harassment reveals a lot about who is entitled to power," says Eve Fairbanks of Brokaw's 4 a.m. "ambushed and perp walked" email addressing the allegations from former NBC News anchor Linda Vester. "This," says Fairbanks, "is the Bill Clinton, Clarence Thomas, and Bill Cosby playbook: Discredit the woman. Complain that she overreacted to a little fun. Accuse her simultaneously of career failure and of being too ambitious—her ambition a symbol of her voracious, smothering sexuality. Wildly overstate her own claims to make them appear ridiculous. And insist that any allegation against him, is, in essence, an attack on the notion that anything at all can be holy—an attack against America. Brokaw becomes, in his defense, a synecdoche for the proper success story, the ideal American man, the country itself and what is most precious in it." ALSO: University of Iowa is moving forward with its Tom Brokaw exhibit despite sexual misconduct allegations.

Tom Brokaw sexual harassment scandal is where "#BelieveWomen" runs into "#NotAllMen"
Lisa Senecal says last week's letter signed by more than 60 female staffers may have sent the wrong message. "The intent of the letter may have merely been to show support for Brokaw, but its impact goes much further," she says. "When two women came forward and said a man with whom they worked was aggressively sexually inappropriate with them, more than 65 women said they worked with that man and he was nothing but appropriate. The message? Are you going to believe two women with decades-old claims, or the more than 65 women telling you that’s not the man they know? Ironically, some of those same 65 women have also said all women who find the courage to speak out about their harassment should be believed."

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Tom Brokaw accuser says she expected a denial, but "his vehemence and spitefulness took me aback"
"He denied the truth and instead attacked my career and my motives," writes Linda Vester, who worked with Brokaw at NBC News before joining Fox News. Vester accused Brokaw of sexual harassment in a Washington Post article two weeks ago, alongside another woman who spoke to the Post anonymously. A third woman, veteran reporter Mary Reinholz, has since come forward accusing Brokaw of unwanted advances 50 years ago. "Shaming and blaming a victim has long been the effective strategy when women speak out. It also served to maintain the silence — discouraging other women away from coming forward," writes Vester. "Brokaw’s letter follows that dated playbook." She adds: "I am not filing a lawsuit; I am not asking NBC or Brokaw for money. I came forward for a simple reason: to let the public know that otherwise good men — men who treat women well or are even their champions — can also commit acts of sexual harassment. I did not feel like confronting Brokaw in private would accomplish my objective of demonstrating to other victims — past, present or future — that it is safe to come forward with their own accounts of harassment in the workplace."

Tom Brokaw accuser Linda Vester says she'll only cooperate in an NBC probe if the network hires an independent investigator
NBC Universal tells Deadline it “has reached out to Ms. Vester via her attorney to discuss her allegations, and so far she has not accepted our offer.” But Vester said this morning on Good Morning America that she isn't interested in talking to NBC investigators.

[Mr. Television]

A real soap opera. lol