Report: Matt Lauer Won’t Receive a Massive Payout

Report: Matt Lauer Won’t Receive a Massive Payout
NBC's 'Today' show anchor Matt Lauer models the official Opening Ceremony outfit that Team USA members will wear by Polo Ralph Lauren in New York City, U.S., July 29, 2016. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid Picture Supplied by Action Images)
Epoch Newsroom
12/1/2017
Updated:
12/1/2017

Matt Lauer’s contract reportedly stipulated that he might get tens of millions of dollars after he was fired, but NBC may not pay it after he was fired from his “Today” job this week, it was reported Friday.

The longtime morning host “will not be paid past his last day of work,” a senior NBC source told CNN Money.
The New York Post reported that Lauer’s lawyers are working to get him a $30 million payout, adding that he was being paid $20 million a year. His contract was believed to expire in about a year and a half.
A source told CNN that NBC won’t agree to a payout, as television contracts include a morality clause, which gives the network some flexibility. CNN said—without offering any quotes—that “two people close to Lauer expressed doubt that he would play hardball with his former network.”
NBC, in a statement, said it fired him due to “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.”

It added that he’s already been paid more than $100 million over the course of his 20-year “Today” co-hosting career. He became the co-host in 1997.

On Thursday, Lauer issued a statement to apologize. “There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions. To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry.…as I am writing this I realize the depth of the damage and disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC,” Lauer said in a statement read aloud on the “Today” show.

“Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed,” Lauer said. “I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly…repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul searching and I’m committed to beginning that effort. It is now my full time job.”

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