Former NBC producer Brooke Nevils has accused ex-Today show host Matt Lauer of anal rape. The incident allegedly happened in Lauer’s hotel room at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
New details about the alleged incident have emerged in the forthcoming book, Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, by The New Yorker reporter Ronan Farrow. The book is scheduled for publication on October 15.
NBC fired Lauer from his position on Today in November 2017. The identity of the accuser was concealed at the time, but she has now been identified as Brooke Nevils.
According to Nevil’s account in Farrow’s book, she attended the 2014 Sochi Olympic as an assistant to the broadcast journalist Meredith Vieira who was covering the Olympics for NBC. One night, she met Lauer, who was also attending the Olympics, at the hotel bar. After drinking multiple shots of vodka, they ended up in Lauer’s hotel room. Nevils alleged that when they got to the hotel room Lauer sexually assaulted her although she “declined several times.”
She insisted that the sex was non-consensual because she was too drunk to consent. However, she admitted that she subsequently had multiple sexual encounters with Lauer after they returned to New York City. She described the encounters as “transactional” and “not a relationship.”
She reported the 2014 Sochi incident to NBC executives in 2017, after the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke.
Lauer has denied raping Nevils. He claimed in an open letter that he only had an “extramarital, but consensual, sexual encounter” with her.
Who is Brooke Nevils?
Brooke Nevils is a Missouri native. She graduated from John Hopkins University in 2007, with a double major in political science and The Writing Seminars.
She first worked for NBC Universal as a page at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in NYC. Her duty was welcoming guests and ushering them to the set. She recalled once helping Robert De Niro to find his missing wallet after he left it in a cab.
She then served as a personal assistant to Today show host Meredith Vieira. She described the job as a “great learning experience” and got to meet many celebrities during the period, including George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Barbra Streisand, and top politicians who were involved in the 2008 presidential race.
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She later served as a producer for NBC. Her work involved behind-the-scenes duties, such as pitching stories, researching, and helping to prepare show segments.
She served as an assistant producer for A Leap of Faith: A Meredith Vieira Special. She and other members of the production team for the show shared an Emmy award nomination for Outstanding Feature Story in a News Magazine.
She also served as producer on several other popular shows, such as 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Rock Center with Brian Williams, Headliners, and Royal Wedding Watch.