On the surface, Matt Lauer always had a reputation for being reserved and harmless, at times even fatherly. Yet since he was accused of sexual misconduct and fired from the Today show, many of his past actions and comments have taken on a whole new meaning. No revelation has been more shocking than the jokes that were made at his 2008 Friar’s Club Roast — especially those made by Lauer himself.
As with a tradition roast, Lauer was allowed to get up and make comments at the end of the night, as a sort of good-natured rebuttal. According to The Village Voice, Lauer fanned the flames of his colleagues’ explicit sexual jokes.
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In response to jokes about Lauer having a romance with former co-anchor Katie Couric, he said “Let me just say that I saw that colon a lot before the rest of you saw it.” Lauer was referencing Couric’s on-air colonoscopy.
Lauer also freely joked about having sexual relations with Ann Curry, another Today show co-anchor. “What’s with all the small d— jokes?” Lauer said. It was fun to look over and see Ann Curry laughing… like she doesn’t know how big my d— really is.”
The roast was a private event where cameras and recording devices weren’t allowed. In hindsight, the exclusivity gives the appearance of secrecy, as many executives in the industry were in attendance, and the majority of the night’s jokes were about Lauer’s promiscuity. The Village Voice’s 2008 article was even titled “Matt Lauer’s Roast: Tom Cruise, Katie Couric, and 3 Hours of D— Jokes.”
Many NBC executives have tried to say that they had absolutely no idea about Lauer’s predatory behavior at work. However, many of them attended this event, and several even got in front of the microphone and made jokes of their own.
