NBC News on Monday pushed back hard against damning claims made about the network in Ronan Farrow’s new book, Catch & Kill, dubbing some of the allegations a “smear,” “lie,” and “conspiracy theory.”
In a lengthy memo sent to staff, NBC News President Noah Oppenheim attempted to fact-check Farrow’s assertion that network higher-ups had advanced knowledge of and downplayed a rape accusation against former Today anchor Matt Lauer, and worked to kill Farrow’s NBC investigation into disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
“Farrow’s effort to defame NBC News is clearly motivated not by a pursuit of truth, but an axe to grind. It is built on a series of distortions, confused timelines, and outright inaccuracies,” Oppenheim said.