Tom Brokaw accused of inappropriate behavior by 2 former NBC employees

Tom Brokaw.
(Image credit: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for WS Productions)

A former NBC News correspondent told The Washington Post that during the 1990s, former anchor Tom Brokaw made unwanted sexual advances toward her, once forcibly trying to kiss her after inviting himself into her hotel room.

Linda Vester, who was in her 20s at the time, tells the Post she did not file a complaint because she was worried about retribution. "I am speaking out now because NBC has failed to hire outside counsel to investigate a genuine, long-standing problem of sexual misconduct in the news division," she said. Another woman, a former production assistant who asked to remain anonymous, told the Post that Brokaw acted inappropriately with her in the 1990s, grabbing her hands and putting them under his jacket and against his chest.

Brokaw denied the allegations, telling the Post: "The meetings were brief, cordial, and appropriate, and despite Linda's allegations, I made no romantic overtures toward her, at that time or any other." Late last year, NBC fired Today co-host Matt Lauer after he was accused of sexual misconduct. The Post spoke with 12 female NBC staffers who said they were sexually harassed but never reported it; three said the harassment came from Lauer — one woman said he exposed himself in his office, another said she had sex with him in his office in the middle of the day, and a third said he gave her a sex toy.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Three of Lauer's supporters told the Post that the relationships were consensual, and in a statement, Lauer acknowledged that he "acted inappropriately as a husband, father, and principal at NBC. However, I want to make it perfectly clear that any allegations or reports of coercive, aggressive, or abusive actions on my part, at any time, are absolutely false." For more on how NBC News has handled sexual misconduct allegations and the warning Ann Curry says NBC ignored, visit The Washington Post.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.