Washington, Nov 30 (AFP) Star US morning news anchor MattLauer has been sacked over allegations of sexual misconduct,broadcast giant NBC announced today, in the latest fall fromgrace of a power player in the media and entertainmentindustry.
Lauer, 59, is a familiar face to American televisionviewers as the host of NBC's popular morning news show "Today"for more than 20 years.
He also led the network's coverage of many major newsevents, from the September 11th attacks to presidentialcampaigns and the Olympics.
His co-host Savannah Guthrie announced his termination onair as their program began.
"This is a sad morning here at 'Today' and at NBC News,"Guthrie said.
The network said it fired Lauer after receiving adetailed account from one of his colleagues of what it calledinappropriate sexual behaviour on the job.
Lauer thus joins the ranks of other giants of Americanfilm, television and journalism who have fallen amidallegations of sexual misconduct, harassment or assault in agroundswell of outrage that began weeks ago with a flood ofcharges against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
The wave of allegations has reached Capitol Hill, whereseveral lawmakers stand accused of inappropriate behaviour,and nearly every day seems to bring another stunning caseinvolving a well known public figure.
In a memo to staff, NBC chairman Andrew Lack said that onMonday night, the network received a detailed complaintaccusing Lauer of inappropriate behaviour.
"It represented, after serious review, a clear violationof our company's standards. As a result, we've decided toterminate his employment," Lack wrote.
NBC said it was provided with evidence suggesting thismay not have been an isolated incident.
Veteran journalist Katie Couric, who was Lauer's co-hostfor years, said in 2012 during an interview with the showbizgossip news outlet TMZ that "Matt pinches me on the ass alot."She was responding to the question of what Lauer's mostannoying habit was.
But Couric, the interviewer and the studio audience alllaughed after her remark. (AFP)CK.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.