Matt Lauer Denies Rape Allegation, Says Affair Was ‘Consensual’

This morning I linked to a piece that described Brooke Nevils's allegation that her then-NBC News colleague Matt Lauer anally raped her in his hotel room at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. (His subsequent denial can be read HERE.)

Please don't put me in a position to defend this (by all accounts) repugnant person, but I have to say that if every time something happened to me in bed I wasn't expecting, necessarily wanting, fully prepared for and/or verbally consenting to constituted rape, then I would be a serial rape victim. She does say she "declined" when asked if she liked anal sex. But hasn't everyone at some point or another indicated they weren't in the mood only to then willingly go along with sex, if perhaps mainly to please their partner? Not only that, when asked if she'd liked it afterward she replied, "Yes." I mean, fine, that doesn't mean anything. She could have said that because it was easier than making a stink at that point. (Pun intended.) But I can also see why he would think something's horribly amiss since they continued to have a consensual sexual relationship after the alleged rape. (And was the "secret button" in his office not true? He's claiming it's not, for whatever that's worth.)

Above all, what I think this exposes is that it's not a "she said, he said" -- I believe her 100%. It's just that I don't think what she's describing matches what she's calling it. So where do we go from there?

Song of the Day: 'Maria' by Blondie

 

For better or worse, I haven't really considered Blondie Blondie since Jimmy Destri was kicked out of the band around the time of their second "comeback" album back in 2003. His loss was indeed a curse on Blondie -- the only songs that really sounded like them anymore seemed to be ones he penned and without him the band was really more like a continuation of Debbie Harry's uneven solo career. But I have to laugh that it's now been 20 years since the first comeback album ("No Exit") was released -- how adorable are these photos?! -- and that the band, as it were, has now been together way longer the second time than during its brilliant heyday. (Get a load of a "young" Matt Lauer, too!)

Now this is what a Blondie song sounds like!

Page 1 Roundup (12/01)

The Daily News: Jamaican cops seek two women for questioning in Queens traveler’s brutal stabbing death

The New York Post: Matt Lauer’s firing casts NBC’s call on Ronan Farrow in a whole new light

The New York Times: Nine women accuse Israel Horovitz, playwright and mentor, of sexual misconduct

The Wall Street Journal: Life without Excel is not worth living

Page 1 Roundup (11/30)

The Daily News: Former 'Today' show co-host Ann Curry says she's 'still processing' Matt Lauer's firing

NYDN: Matt Lauer’s wife once accused him of ‘cruel and inhumane’ acts

NYDN: Trump ripped by Theresa May after tweeting anti-Muslim video from far-right British group

Editorial Board: Donald Trump is a madman: Wednesday Twitter spasm confirms what many Americans have long suspected

The Daily Beast: Trump reportedly described a young socialite as ‘first-rate p---y’

The New York Post: Matt Lauer accused of sexting NBC intern and staffers

The New York Times: British far-right group exults over attention from Donald Trump

NYT: Tax cut? Health care, education and social services all could be reshaped by provisions in the overhaul championed by President Trump and Republican leaders

The Wall Street Journal: After a six-month repair, the national-debt clock returns to Manhattan, springs forward to $20 trillion

The Washington Post: Woman’s effort to infiltrate The Washington Post dated back months

Tinsel and Lights at Rockefeller Center

The tree looks great, but I'm bummed I missed seeing Matt Lauer being hanged with care ...

Broadcasting Aspersions

Everything I've read about the so-called Command-in-Chief forum sounds like a DISASTER. I'm with Damian, who asked: Shouldn't Matt Lauer have lost his job when he lost his hair?    

From HERE.

NLGJA Headlines and Headliners 2013 Gala

NBC's Megan Kopf, D&D Advertising CafeMom's Andrew Shue, CNN's Javi Morgado, NBC's Natalie Morales and ABC's Amy Robach (aka Mrs. Shue)

Had a swell time at the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association's Headlines and Headliners soiree. Host Javi Morgado tried out a new venue for the annual fundraiser -- the opulent Prince George Ballroom on 27th just off Fifth Avenue -- and while it was far easier to get a drink than in past years at the Mitchell Gold store downtown, it was so big I ended up missing a number of friends, former colleagues and would-be friends. (Catch you next time, Andy, Michelangelo, Billy and Gayle!)  Fortunately, I did hook up with my pal Jim Key -- in town from Los Angeles where he is the chief public affairs officer for the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center -- and also got to see Lavi Soloway (Stop the Deportations: The DOMA Project), eager to get to Washington for the SCOTUS action ; the always-entertaining J. Jennings Moss (of Upstart Business Journal); Jason Bellini, who is back at The Wall Street Journal; Eric Hegedus of The New York Post and his pal Totally Tyler, whose new book -- "Boys, Booze & Booty Calls: The Continued Tails of Totally Tyler" -- is totally available on Amazon HERE. I also met four young journalism students from my alma mater, who are members of ASU's very own infant chapter of the NLGJA. Curiously, every single one of them missed their cue to gasp in utter shock when I announced I was a member of the Class of '89 -- before all of them were born -- but let me tell you kids this: You've come a long way, Sun Devils! Afterward, I tagged along with Jim -- a visitor who has a million more friends in New York than I do after 15 years! -- and his pals Derek, Ryan and Jack for a fun dinner at Elmo (thanks, Derek!), which was packed and turned out to be the unofficial site of the NLGJA after party. (Have you seen the bartender working there lately? Unf**king-believably hot!) From there, Jim, Jack and I headed to the Meatpacking District for an "on-the-list" outing at Cielo -- courtesy of Occupy the Disco -- before wrapping it up with a night cap at Barracuda, where the scariest Whitney Houston impersonator I have ever seen (and I have seen more than my fair share) came in last place in a talent contest performing "My Name Is Not Susan." I woke the following morning with a souvenir hangover -- age'll do that to you -- but I'm glad I went. NLGJA does a lot of great work -- and for networking and friendhips, it can't be beat. To learn more, click HERE.

With Jim and Eric

Natalie Morales

My pal Dean (left) and friends 

Jim, Ryan McKeel and Christopher Jones

An unknown young man puts the meat in a Jesse Rodriguez and Kevin Hauswirth sandwich

Natalie Morales, Savannah Guthrie and Matt Lauer

(Photos by Darren Gantt/NLGJA and Jon Schwenzer/President, NLGJA South Florida Chapter)