Beowulf Sheehan; Jason Kempin/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
In 2017, Brooke Nevils reported Matt Lauer to NBC, accusing him of raping her while they were at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia
After Lauer was fired from the Today show due to her complaint, Nevils, too, left NBC after working at the company for a decade
In a new memoir, Nevils is opening up about what happened after the alleged rape
Brooke Nevilsis opening up about her experiences with formerTodayshow anchorMatt Lauerin new memoir, but admits she's worried about sharing her story.
The former NBC employee, who accused Lauer of rape that allegedly took place in his hotel room during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, has written a book titled,Unspeakable Things: Silence, Shame, and the Stories We Choose to Believe.The memoir, out Feb. 3, explores the aftermath of her headline-making ordeal. After she reported Lauer, now 68, to NBC in 2017,he was firedwithin 24 hours.
In a new interview withNPR'sFresh Airpodcast, Nevils shared that she has reservations over the release of her book. She told the outlet she's worried that her kids might one day be "tortured" by what she's written. (Nevils is now married with two children.)
"It's my job to prepare them for the hard things in life, and part of that is giving them the opportunity to learn from my mistakes, to be honest with them and say I wasn't perfect — but I still didn't deserve what happened to me," she said, according to NPR.
Beowulf Sheehan
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Nevils released an excerpt of the memoir withThe Cuton Jan. 28, In it, she wrote that she's now happily married with "two beautiful children." After leaving NBC where she worked as a prime-time news producer, she said she "painstakingly rebuilt my life."
"Every moment with my family is a precious piece of the life that I once believed I no longer deserved to live," she wrote in the excerpt.
Another revelation in the excerpt was thatNevils spent time in a psych wardafter the alleged 2014 rape.
She recalled that she "barely recognized the train wreck I'd become" in the time after she reported Lauer. "I was compulsive, paranoid, and drinking all the time. I felt I'd ruined everything, hurt and embarrassed everyone I loved. Soon I would find myself in a psych ward, believing myself so worthless and damaged that the world would be better off without me."
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When the rape allegations previously surfaced, NBC said in a statement: "Matt Lauer's conduct was appalling, horrific and reprehensible, as we said at the time. That's why he was fired within 24 hours of us first learning of the complaint. Our hearts break again for our colleague."
In 2019, Lauerdenied raping Nevilsin a lengthy letter toVariety, after she shared further details about the alleged assaults in Ronan Farrow'sCatch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators.
In the statement, the former news anchor said he had an "extramarital affair" with Nevils butmaintained that everything was "completely consensual," denying her allegations of rape.
Several other women came forward with allegations against Lauer after Nevils did, and his wife of 19 years, Annette Roque — with whomhe shares his three kids—filed for divorce.
Lauer initially broke his silence on the allegations in a statement that was read by his former colleagues on air. "Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed," the statement said.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.
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