Tom Brokaw accused of making unwanted advance by third woman

A third woman has come forward to accuse former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw of making an unwanted advance toward her early on in her journalism career.

Mary Reinholz claims in a new first-person testimonial that Brokaw, who was married at the time, attempted to kiss her inside her rented Los Angeles-area home 50 years ago after helping her with a story she was working on.

"We talked and then, abruptly, he was embracing me and giving me a French kiss," Reinholz wrote in a piece published by The Villager.

"I pulled away, reminding him that he was married and a tryst was out of the question," she wrote. "He said, 'Yes, it would be unfair to Meredith,' meaning his wife."

Reinholz says she and Brokaw, now 78, got together at her home after he managed to obtain information from the Los Angeles Police Department that she had been unable to get herself. She did not say which year this allegedly occurred, but noted she was hit on "by several powerful men in the news business" during the 1960s, including Brokaw.

She claims the encounter with Brokaw, who was anchoring for Los Angeles' KNBC station at the time, left her "uncomfortable," noting that she "wasn't interested in Brokaw as a sex partner."

Reinholz says she spoke to Brokaw several times after that in subsequent years. She moved to New York in the early 1970s and spoke to Brokaw to acquire a contact, but says she never saw him again.

Reinholz's allegations come less than a week after Linda Vester, a former Middle East correspondent, claimed in reports by the Washington Post and Variety that Brokaw attempted to kiss her on two different occasions in 1990s.

Brokaw has denied the allegations, including in a statement to the Washington Post.

"I met with Linda Vester on two occasions, both at her request, 23 years ago, because she wanted advice with respect to her career at NBC," he said in a statement to the Washington Post.

"The meetings were brief, cordial and appropriate, and despite Linda's allegations, I made no romantic overtures towards her, at that time or any other."

Another woman, who made her allegation anonymously, claims Brokaw placed her hands on his chest and asked her to come to his office in 1990s as well. That woman, who is a former production assistant, told the Washington Post was in her 20s at the time.

Brokaw was seen leaving the NBC News offices on Monday, marking the first time he’d been seen since the allegations emerged.