Despite theHarvey WeinsteinandMatt Lauerscandals that have entangled NBC News during his tenure, Noah Oppenheim will reportedly continue in his role as president of the network’s news division.
According toThe Wall Street Journal, NBCUniversal recently renewed Oppenheim’s contract. While Oppenheim has been at the helm of NBC News since 2017, the outlet reports that he is expected to succeed NBC News Chairman Andrew“Andy” Lack following the 2020 election.
Lack, 72, is set to retire after the upcoming presidential election, according to the outlet, and NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke is planning to have Oppenheim, 41, take over.
“Noah has a tremendous amount of support from among theTodayshow staff. He has been a strong leader for all of us since 2015. He was there when Savannah [Guthrie] and Hoda [Kotb] took over after the difficult Matt [Lauer] situation and steadied the show and was our leader through that,” aTodayshow staffer tells PEOPLE.
“That was a very difficult time losing an anchor of 20 years. And he was there to steady the ship along with Savannah and Hoda,” theTodayshow staffer continues. “The contract is a sign that the management has faith in Noah and believes in Noah.”
But whileWSJreports that “some staffers at NBC News say they feel a wholesale change in management is needed given the string of public missteps that the division has weathered in recent years,” some members of the public are also calling for change.
On Wednesday, a handful of protestors fromUltraViolet— an organization that works to improve the lives of women — rallied outside of the NBC News headquarters in New York, where they called for Oppenheim, MSNBC president Phil Griffin and “every other person in leadership that enabled abusers and silenced survivors” to be fired,according toFox News.
“It’s not just a Matt Lauer problem. It’s a company-wide problem. And it’s one that Comcast NBC needs to take seriously and demonstrate that they’re taking seriously,” UltraViolet co-founder Shaunna Thomas said.
The memo detailed the overview of changes the company has made — “We conducted in-person training for all employees on workplace behavior (2,145 employees completed), we’ve added new training so that managers are better equipped to build trust with their employees (562 managers completed) and we’ve included in managers’ performance reviews an assessment of their success in creating a positive work environment,” the memo reads — and included “various ways” that employees can report concerns.
News of Oppenheim’s reported contract renewal come after hedefended NBC Newsin the wakeof the rape allegationsmade against axedTodayhostMatt Lauer.
Last week, Oppenheim sent a memo to staffers at NBC News and MSNBC, addressing the claims inRonan Farrow‘s bookCatch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predatorsand saying that the company has “no secrets and nothing to hide.” (Lauer, 61, hasdenied the rape allegation, characterizing his relationship with the woman as consensual)
Matt Lauer, Noah Oppenheim and Harvey Weinstein.Jason Kempin/Getty; Tara Ziemba/Getty; Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty
“Now that we’ve read Farrow’s book, it’s clear — his smear rests on the allegation that NBC’s management knew about and took steps to hide Matt Lauer’s misconduct beforehis firing in November of 2017,” Oppenheim wrote in his memo.
“Without that, he has no basis on which to rest his second conspiracy theory — that hisHarvey Weinsteinreporting was squashed to protect Lauer,” Oppenheim continued, referencing Farrow’s claim in his book that NBC Newskilled his bombshell 2017 article about Weinstein’s alleged sexual misconductafter the disgraced producer spooked the network with a report of Lauer’s own sexual misconduct allegations. (In astatement to PEOPLEin 2017, Weinstein’s attorneys denied any allegations of sexual assault, saying in part, “Mr. Weinstein has never at any time committed an act of sexual assault, and it is wrong and irresponsible to conflate claims of impolitic behavior or consensual sexual contact later regretted, with an untrue claim of criminal conduct.”)
“Farrow alleges there were employees who reported Lauer’s behavior prior to November of 2017 and were paid settlements to silence them,” he added. “Not only is this false, the so-called evidence Farrow uses in his book to support the charge collapses under the slightest scrutiny.”
“As you know, our news organization is filled with dedicated, professional journalists, including some of the best and most experienced investigative reporters, as well as others who support our reporting with exceptional talent, integrity and decency,” Lack wrote. “It disappoints me to say that even with [the] passage of time, Farrow’s account has become neither more accurate, nor more respectful of the dedicated colleagues he worked with here at NBC News. He uses a variety of tactics to paint a fundamentally untrue picture.”
“The first moment we learned of it was the night of November 27, 2017,and he was fired in 24 hours,” Lack wrote. “Any suggestion that we knew prior to that evening or tried to cover up any aspect of Lauer’s conduct is absolutely false and offensive.”
source: people.com
