Don Lemon defends his friend Matt Lauer and shares how he defends the former today The host could return to the media after being fired from the NBC morning show.
The former CNN anchor revealed that he saw the audience’s reaction to Lauer and believes he can make a comeback.
“I think if he can get back to digital, he can chart his own path,” Lemon said on Twitter. Hollywood Raw Podcast With Dax Holt and Adam Glenn.
“I only got to know Matt after the whole situation happened, because we live in the same city and have mutual friends,” Lemon said. “Whenever I see Matt out and about — or, you know, if we go out to dinner, my husband and I go out to dinner with him and his fiancée — and people love him.”
Lemon added: “Women love it! They’re like, man, oh my God, can I get a picture? I love you. I miss you on TV. I think the audience loves him. The audience misses him, but it’s just the people inside the company who are afraid.
Lauer was fired by NBC News in 2017 after allegations of “inappropriate sexual conduct.” In 2019, Brooke Nevils went public with her story in Ronan Farrow’s book catch and kill, Alleging that Lauer raped her in a hotel room during the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Lauer said the encounter was consensual, and that the allegations are “categorically false, ignore the facts, and defy common sense.”
Regarding the accusations against Lauer, Lemon said: “I don’t know anything about what happened, I don’t know anything about that at all.”
Lemon suggested that Lauer could return to the media in light of Donald Trump’s re-election as President of the United States, despite allegations of sexual assault and his conviction for sexual assault.
“Maybe in the whole Trump era, when repeal ends, maybe there will be a way for it to come back,” Lemon said. “I think the people inside the company are the most concerned about what happened with Matt.”
He continued: “I’ll put it this way. I think the general public will accept Matt’s return. I think people will watch it and I think the reviews will be great.