Matt Lauer’s Former Co-Worker Thinks ‘Midlife Crisis’ Could Have Led to Sexual Misconduct

The ongoing sexual assault scandal revolving around Matt Lauer has caused many of the anchor’s peers to question what they knew about former TODAY host. Now, one of Lauer’s early associates is speaking out about the man she worked with.

Christina Deyo worked with the now-disgraced personality in the early ’90s when he hosted 9 Broadcast Plaza, a talk show for New Jersey’s WWOR. She told Radar that Lauer was “caring,” “a perfect gentleman” and “professional” in the workplace during his time at WWOR.

“Matt was always caring. He was a perfect gentleman,” Deyo said. “He was a true professional, always acting very appropriate. To say I’m shocked is an understatement.”

As for what led to the beloved personality’s rabid fall from grace, Deyo theorizes that a possible “midlife crisis” could have set in or that he just really knew how to hide his actions in plain sight.

“I don’t know what happened,” Deyo said. “Maybe he is going through some midlife crisis. Or maybe he has been that way all his life and just hid it really well. Whatever the reason, it is no excuse — totally unacceptable what he did.”

NBC announced the TODAY host’s unexpected firing on Wednesday morning, leaving many of his co-workers in shock. His termination reportedly stemmed from inappropriate photos and texts sent to an intern.

“On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer,” NBC Chairman Andy Lack said. “

It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company’s standards. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment. While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he’s been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.”

Photo Credit: NBC / Nathan Congleton