Not That Surprised, But A Little Sick

So, given the ongoing reckoning over sexual harassment, I wasn't even that surprised at hearing that Matt Lauer had been let go from his association with NBC as the anchor of its long-running Today show. I've basically thought he was kind of a jerk and crappy interviewer for a while, and his performance moderating the Commander-in-Chief Forum last year was simply abysmal. I chalked it up to being at turns condescending and pompous, and although it looks like conservative media seems to be going with "the Liberal Media's Matt Lauer", I kind of thought he seemed biased against Dems. Maybe he has that unique mainstream media talent for being a universal putz. Anyhow, as to his sexism, it looks like there had been multiple signs, and as for the idea that Matt Lauer was so irreplaceable that NBC shouldn't have addressed his creepiness sooner, well, not so much. 

But the details are kind of sickening.  The intro to the Variety piece is damning enough:

As the co-host of NBC’s “Today,” Matt Lauer once gave a colleague a sex toy as a present. It included an explicit note about how he wanted to use it on her, which left her mortified.

On another day, he summoned a different female employee to his office, and then dropped his pants, showing her his penis. After the employee declined to do anything, visibly shaken, he reprimanded her for not engaging in a sexual act.

He would sometimes quiz female producers about who they’d slept with, offering to trade names. And he loved to engage in a crass quiz game with men and women in the office: “f—, marry, or kill,” in which he would identify the female co-hosts that he’d most like to sleep with.

But I think the stand-out creepiest part is the button under his desk:

Lauer, who was paranoid about being followed by tabloid reporters, grew more emboldened at 30 Rockefeller Center as his profile rose following Katie Couric’s departure from “Today” in 2006. His office was in a secluded space, and he had a button under his desk that allowed him to lock his door from the inside without getting up. This afforded him the assurance of privacy. It allowed him to welcome female employees and initiate inappropriate contact while knowing nobody could walk in on him, according to two women who were sexually harassed by Lauer.

I'm just trying to sort out the rationale that made it seem totally normal to have that installed in his office--to prevent someone from walking in on him. Or to lock someone in with him? And I imagine what it must be like the hear a click behind you, knowing a door has been locked, and it can't be for any good reason...

Like I said: sickening.