Katie Couric Says Matt Lauer Accuser Brooke Nevils Is ‘Very Brave’ for Writing New Memoir About Alleged 2014 Rape
Katie Couric Says Matt Lauer Accuser Brooke Nevils Is ‘Very Brave’ for Writing New Memoir About Alleged 2014 Rape
Staff AuthorSat, April 25, 2026 at 10:19 PM UTC
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Katie Couric; Brooke NevilsCredit: Gary Miller/Getty;Beowulf Sheehan -
Katie Couric said in a new interview that former NBC employee Brooke Nevils is “very brave” for writing her 2026 memoir
Nevils alleged in 2017 that former Today anchor Matt Lauer raped her at the 2014 Winter Olympics, which he denies
Her memoir, Unspeakable Things: Silence, Shame, and the Stories We Choose to Believe, details the alleged rape and the aftermath of reporting it to NBC
Katie Couric shared words of support for former NBC employee Brooke Nevils, who in 2017 accused Couric’s former Today co-host Matt Lauer of raping her at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
In a new interview, the journalist and presenter, 69, praised Nevils’ bravery for writing her new memoir — Unspeakable Things: Silence, Shame, and the Stories We Choose to Believe — in which she details the alleged rape and the aftermath of reporting it to NBC.
“I feel terrible for her,” Couric told Page Six during the City Harvest Presents The 2026 Gala: Shaken, Not Stirred event on April 21.
“I think she’s very brave to write the book,” she continued, adding that she has “read an excerpt” of the memoir but not the entire book yet.
Katie Couric attends the City Harvest Presents The 2026 Gala: Shaken, Not Stirred event on April 21, 2026Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
In the memoir released in February, Nevils recalled the details of her alleged sexual encounters with Lauer, who was fired in 2017 after she reported his alleged sexual harassment and assault during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia.
"I have spent the long years since using my otherwise abandoned skills as a journalist to report and write the book about sexual harassment and assault that I wish had existed for me," Nevils wrote in an excerpt.
Nevils also garnered support from former Today host Ann Curry, who co-anchored Today alongside Lauer from 2010 to 2011.
Curry told PEOPLE in a statement in January that she remembered Nevils as “good-hearted and credible, with great potential.”
"She is also brave,” Curry added.
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As for Lauer, he has denied all allegations. He said in a 2019 letter to Variety that he had an "extramarital affair" with Nevils but maintained that everything was "completely consensual," denying her allegations of rape.
However, Nevils refuted that statement in a January interview with NPR, saying that Lauer’s claim that their relationship was “consensual” was inaccurate.
"Consent and agreement are not synonymous,” she said. "When one person has power over the other, it's not really consent. It's submission.”
Matt Lauer during NBC's "Today" on Sept. 29, 2017Credit: Noam Galai/WireImage
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A source told PEOPLE in January that while he is “not happy about the publication of her book,” the former TV host is “grateful for his close circle of friends who have rallied around him during this scandal.”
“He has a good life in the Hamptons with his kids and friends,” the source said. “He also loves his place in New Zealand and is spending a lot of time there. He has a life away from all of this scandal. He is happy. He still has a solid relationship with Shamin and is fulfilled in his personal life.”
Lauer is a father to three children — sons Jack, 24, and Thijs, 19, and daughter Romy, 22 — whom he shares with ex-wife Annette Roque. The former couple separated following Lauer's termination from NBC and finalized their divorce in 2019.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
