Former NBC News anchor Linda Vester, who publicly accused former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw of sexual harassment in 2018, said the network needs more changes than chairman Andy Lack’s announcement that he will depart the company.
Vester told the Washington Post in 2018 that Brokaw allegedly tried to forcibly kiss her twice in the 1990s. The former anchor came forward with the allegation after NBC News didn’t hire an outside investigator to look into sexual harassment claims after former host Matt Lauer was fired.
The network announced May 4 that Lack would be stepping down from the company at the end of May. Vester told The Cut Tuesday that more needs to be done, and continued to push for an outside investigation into the company.
Lack has been accused “of pursuing female employees for affairs, as well as fostering a culture of impunity around harassment and gender discrimination,” The Cut reported, citing journalist Ronan Farrow’s book “Catch and Kill.”
“My first reaction was, ‘Thank God, the guy [Lack] is a cancer,'” Vester said before admitting it didn’t provide her with a “teeny piece” of relief. “Apparently the wheels of justice turn slowly.”
Vester also believes that more will come out about allegations at NBC News, noting that “the women who were harmed are journalists.”
NBC pres. Jeff Zucker, Chairman and COO Andy Lack and ‘Today’ producer Jonathan Wald at NBC’s Party for the Television Critics Association at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Pasadena, Ca. 7/20/01. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
The New York attorney general’s office is reportedly probing into various allegations within NBC News. Vester said she interviewed with the attorney general’s office in January. (RELATED: NBC News Chairman Sends Out Memo Hitting Back At Ronan Farrow’s Book)
“The AG’s office asked if she would talk to investigators about her own experience and connect them with other people with information about NBC,” according to The Cut.
Vester said that she’s heard more men have been named during the interviews, and several are reportedly still working at NBC News. The interviews involve “complaints, of harassment, of retaliation, of cover-ups, and, in other cases, gender discrimination,” Vester said according to The Cut.
“This is going to sound paradoxical, but I still have a lot of fondness for the mission of NBC News. And I would like to see it be a place where everyone feels truly safe to work,” Vester added.
NBC News did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller.