On Thursday it was reported that, despite being the latest high-profile media figure canned for a wide range of sexual misconduct allegations, lawyers for Matt Lauer would be trying to get NBC to pay out the remaining $30 million from the final year-and-a-half of his contract. Now, less than 24 hours later, it is being reported that NBC won't be paying squat in the wake of the high-profile anchor's very abrupt dismissal, which officially came Wednesday due to "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace."
That report (the second one) came from Variety, who cited two unnamed sources familiar with the situation.
Additionally, Variety reports that a network staffer asked NBC News President Noah Oppenheim about a potential Lauer settlement during a Friday meeting, and those in attendance were told he wouldn't get anything beyond his last day because he was fired "for cause."
The thought of being gifted a golden parachute (even when fired in disgrace) is not exactly a new concept. As you may recall, recent names like Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, as well as Fox News President Roger Ailes, were both given eight-figure sums to part ways "amicably." The theory behind this is to keep them from dishing out company secrets through things like books and talk show appearances.
Lauer had worked as a co-anchor for NBC's Today for the past 19 years, after serving on the same program for four years as a news reader. He signed his last deal with the network in 2016, which was set to keep him there through at least 2018. He also commanded a salary of somewhere between $20-25 million a year. In other words, he'll be just fine.
