Brooke Nevils, the woman who accused Matt Lauer of raping her in 2014, delivered explosive new revelations in a graphic memoir.
Nevils, a former NBC employee, alleged the powerful NBC host raped her in a hotel room during the Winter Olympics and dove into unflinching detail about the alleged attack in “Unspeakable Things: Silence, Shame and the Stories We Choose to Believe.” Nevils claimed she was drunk on the night that Lauer initiated anal sex with her, and said she woke up in a pool of blood the next morning, according to The Cut. (RELATED: Bill Cosby Reportedly Makes Bombshell Admission In Newly Filed Legal Documents)
Nevils said she felt confused and embarrassed after the alleged rape and admitted that she later initiated sexual encounters as a way to regain a sense of control while grappling with a complex mix of emotions.
She reported the alleged rape in 2017, and Lauer was subsequently fired from his high-profile position with the network.
Brooke Nevils — a woman who accused Matt Lauer of raping her in a hotel room during the 2014 Winter Olympics — has revisited the brutal experience she says left her broken.
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Nevils said that she struggled to make sense of what happened and was ashamed of bleeding during the alleged rape.
“I should have thought, He’s a monster. Instead I thought, You brought this on yourself,” she said.
“Despite the rounds of vodka shots, the overwhelming power differential, and the bloody underwear and sheets, I would never have used the word ‘rape’ to describe what had happened,” she said, describing her state of confusion at the time.
“Even now, I hear ‘rape’ and think of masked strangers in dark alleys. Back then, I had no idea what to call what happened other than weird and humiliating,” Nevils wrote, according to The Cut.
“But then there was the pain, which was undeniable. It hurt to walk. It hurt to sit. It hurt to remember.”
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 22: Co-host Matt Lauer appears on NBC’s “Today” at the NBC’s TODAY Show on August 22, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Nevils noted she was on assignment in Sochi, Russia, at the time of the alleged rape, and her devices were monitored by NBC. She claimed she didn’t know how to reach out for help in the region without drawing attention from the network.
“One strikingly clear thought crossed my mind and then was instantly struck from my consciousness: If anyone else had done this to me, I would have gone to the police,” she wrote.
Fearing the power imbalance between them, she wrote, “If I used my phone, my computer, or the internet, NBC would know about it. The only doctor available was employed by NBC. The only people I knew in Russia were other NBC employees. I was surrounded by people whose careers, like mine, were dependent upon Matt’s success,” according to The Cut.
NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 13: Matt Lauer waits backstage before TIME’s Person of the Year Panel on November 13, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME)
Nevils said she feared Lauer’s powerful status and the impact her allegations could have on her career. Feeling ashamed, she attempted to find ways to “smooth things over,” resulting in four additional sexual encounters with Lauer.
“One encounter I even initiated, telling myself I wasn’t the same naïve idiot I’d been in Sochi or some girl Matt could just summon to her knees in his office, always thinking that this would be the time I took back control. But I never did,” she said, according to The Cut.
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 09: Matt Lauer attends UJA-Federation Of New York Broadcast, Cable And Film Award Celebration at The Edison Ballroom on April 9, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
“I just implicated myself in my own abuse.”
Several other women later came forward with allegations against Lauer. The former host denied all allegations made against him.
