On Thursday, Today posted a video celebrating the morning show’s 25 years working from Studio 1A. Matt Lauer, the ousted NBC host who was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, did not make it into the anniversary video. Lauer was a host on the show for 20 of those years before was fired without a settlement by NBC in November of 2017, following the accusations.
Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin, and Al Rocker were all featured in the spot, but some fans were confused why Lauer was not asked to participate. Maybe it has to do with him making the workplace less-than-safe for his women colleagues?
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Some believed it was appropriate for Lauer to be left out of the spot given the harassment allegations — after all, he wasn't the only host not included. As some fans pointed out, fan favorite Ann Curry is also notably absent from the video. Curry hosted the Today show for one year until she left in 2012, allegedly due to conflict with Lauer.
Still, many felt that NBC made a deliberate choice to erase Lauer's legacy at the network and tweeted such.
“Amazing that a member of 'the family' was totally excluded from the 25th Anniversary of Studio 1-A. I know there were serious issues with Matt Lauer and his conduct is not to ever be condoned, but all ‘families’ are flawed in some way. Aren’t they? History shouldn’t be erased,” commented one fan in a tweet.
“It's just crazy that you omitted Matt Lauer from the footage. Good or bad it's your history so embrace it. I think we as adults could've handle it,” added another.
“We know & remember that Matt Lauer did wrong. You took his job (rightly so) but you can still show the man who helped create your legacy & was one of the main representatives of your morning show. What’s the point in pretending he wasn’t there?” said a third.
When TODAY first moved to Studio 1A in 1994, it became a place where the team could try new things and connect with viewers.
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 20, 2019
Take a look back on some of those special moments over the past 25 years. pic.twitter.com/km1cbuMeAB
In April of 2018, Lauer apologized for "inappropriate behavior" while working at NBC, though stopped short of saying he engaged in abusive conduct.
“I fully acknowledge that I acted inappropriately as a husband, father, and principal at NBC. However I want to make it perfectly clear that any allegations or reports of coercive, aggressive, or abusive actions on my part, at any time, are absolutely false,” his statement, provided to The Washington Post, reads.
Refinery29 has reached out to Lauer and NBC for comment.