The latest bombshell in the wave of sexual harassment allegations dropped today with the news that journalist Matt Lauer has been fired from NBC after numerous reports of sexual misconduct.
An exclusive report from Variety outlined some of the vilest and most disturbing details of Lauer’s behavior, including a time he gave a sex toy to a colleague along with a gross letter explaining how he wanted to use it on her. He also had a special button installed under his desk that allowed him to lock his office door without getting up, a detail that seems plucked right out of a horror film.
Any reasonable person would see such a monstrous pattern of misconduct as indefensible and disavow Lauer. Enter Geraldo Rivera.
The Fox pundit has taken to Twitter to unleash an unhinged defense of his friend Lauer. He called the accused sexual predator a “great guy” and a “real gentleman.”
Then he made the worst defense imaginable by saying that news broadcasting is inherently “flirty,” as if Lauer were being accused of some casual flirtation instead of repeated, explicit, sexual harassment including an incident where he revealed his penis to a female colleague then reprimanded her for rejecting his overtures.
Sad about @MLauer great guy, highly skilled & empathetic w guests & a real gentleman to my family & me. News is a flirty business & it seems like current epidemic of #SexHarassmentAllegations may be criminalizing courtship & conflating it w predation. What about #GarrisonKeillor?
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) November 29, 2017
Rivera wasn’t’ done there, and went on to presume to institute a set of rules for deciding what should and shouldn’t be considered sexual harassment. Why he thinks he — a man in a position of power — should be the arbiter of what is and isn’t sexual harassment speaks to his disconnect from the reality and lived experiences of sexual predation victims.
Rivera also proposed an absurd set of criteria for “requirements” needed to take sexual harassment claims seriously.
A jerk's a jerk in dating. #SexHarassment should be confined to situations where superior imposes himself on subordinate who feels unable to complain because of power of perp or feared consequences to victim's employment. Shouldn't be used to get even w bad bosses or hated ex's
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) November 29, 2017
Heard well-regarded women in media today suggesting morning shows go to an all-female format. That should be as unacceptably retro as the other way around.
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) November 29, 2017
#SexHarassment allegations should require: 1-made in a timely fashion-say w/n 5 yrs. 2-some contemporaneous corroboration, like witnesses, electronic or written communications. W $ settlements in multi-millions slight chance exists some victims are motivated by more than justice
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) November 29, 2017
Geraldo should be ashamed of himself. It may be difficult to accept that his close friend is a predator, but the only way to confront sexual harassment head-on is to accept that anyone is capable of it, and the people we think we know well could, in fact, be hiding the evilest part of themselves from us.
