Now that he's been fired by NBC News amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment, Matt Lauer's past work has come under intense scrutiny -- and some of it will leave you feeling decidedly icky in light of the new accusations.
From a hypocritical Bill O'Reilly interview to a tone-deaf sexual harassment sketch on Today, Lauer seems to have spent years throwing stones from a very fragile glass house. The latest video to resurface comes courtesy of The Meredith Vieira Show, in which Lauer's former co-host (who was apparently also the subject of Lauer's inappropriate remarks, judging by a video from TMZ in which Lauer encourages Vieira to "keep bending over" in front of him) quizzed him on why she once found a bag of sex toys in Lauer's office closet
“Can we explain what happened?” Lauer says, while co-host Savannah Guthrie laughs awkwardly beside him. “You were there. We had a guest on the show. She was a... what was she? A sex therapist."
"I don't remember that," Vieira counters.
"And so when she left-- I think you did the segment, actually," Lauer adds.
"I didn't, I didn't," Vieira argues.
Lauer continues, "And when she left, she gave each of us a shopping bag of stuff..."
"I didn't get a bag of stuff," Vieira insists.
It's all played for laughs, but the moment takes on an uncomfortable new dimension following the allegation that Lauer "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," according to a Varietyreport.
The internet never forgets.