NEW YORK – Matt Lauer accused author Ronan Farrow on Tuesday of shoddy and biased journalism in his book “Catch and Kill” that included what Lauer says is a false accusation that the former “Today” show host raped a co-worker. Lauer, similarly, said Farrow had not corroborated several specific accusations against him in the 2019 book, “Catch and Kill.”NBC fired Lauer in 2017 for an inappropriate relationship with a co-worker. In Farrow's book, that former co-worker, Brooke Nevils, said Lauer raped her in a Sochi hotel room during the 2014 Winter Olympics. Farrow tweeted a brief response to Lauer's lengthy piece: “All I'll say on this is that Matt Lauer is just wrong. ‘Catch and Kill’ was thoroughly reported and fact-checked, including with Matt Lauer himself.”Farrow's publisher, Little, Brown and Co., said it fully supported the author.

Former NBC News employees who signed nondisclosure agreements can come forward with their stories of sexual harassment at the network, NBCUniversal said in a statement. The statement was first reported by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, who read it on air. "Any former NBC News employee who believes that they cannot disclose their experience with sexual harassment as a result of a confidentiality or non-disparagement provision in their separation agreement should contact NBCUniversal and we will release them from that perceived obligation," the statement reads. Maddow read the statement before interviewing Ronan Farrow, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has reported on sexual misconduct in the media industry. Lauer has denied the accusations of rape, saying the sexual encounters he had were consensual.