Matt Lauer accuser speaks out: ‘The shame in this story belongs to him’

Brooke Nevils, the former NBC News employee who has accused Matt Lauer of rape, is speaking out.

In a statement to NBC News also shared on Thursday’s Today show, the former producer responded to Lauer’s open letter denying her allegation, which she detailed in Ronan Farrow’s new book, Catch and Kill.

"There's the Matt Lauer that millions of Americans watched on TV every morning for two decades, and there is the Matt Lauer who this morning attempted to bully a former colleague into silence," Nevils said. “His open letter was a case study in victim blaming.”

Nevils noted, “I provided dates, times, evidence of communications and corroborating accounts. Both NBC and Farrow found me credible.”

As she had admitted in her book, she reiterated that she “continued to engage with him, as many victims of acquaintance rape do, particularly in the workplace.”

Nevils’s statement went on to say, “I am not afraid of him now, regardless of his threats, bullying, and the shaming and predatory tactics I knew he would (and now has) tried to use against me.”

As well as, "The shame in this story belongs to him."

On Wednesday, Nevils used Twitter to thank the women and men who reached out to her in the wake of her telling her story.

“I want to thank the many survivors who shared their stories with me today and offered their support,” Nevils wrote on social media. “It takes courage, and I am truly grateful.”

Nevils told Ronan Farrow, for his upcoming book Catch and Kill, that Lauer raped her in his hotel room at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Variety reported the story on Wednesday, citing excerpts from the yet-to-be published book. Though Nevils has not been named until now, her allegation, which she brought to NBC human resources in November 2017, is notably the one that led to Lauer being fired the next day.

Lauer has denied the accusation against him. He said that he did have a sexual relationship with Nevils, but he insisted that it was consensual. “In a new book, it is alleged that an extramarital, but consensual, sexual encounter I have previously admitted having, was in fact an assault,” he said. “It is categorically false, ignores the facts, and defies common sense.”

NBC News issued its own 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.” Nevils also received support from former Today co-host Ann Curry.

After Nevils thanked her supporters, many of them thanked her right back.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

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