The team explained that when casting, the roles shouldn’t be limited to a particular ethnicity or race, even if the writer specified it. The producer used the example of casting a doctor: “Why not just say the character is a doctor; he’s tall, handsome—”
“Wait,” I broke in, “you just used the word he to describe the doctor. You made the doctor a man!”
The producer looked surprised, then embarrassed. Everyone laughed. Even at an enlightened company like JuVee, implicit bias is a hard habit to break.
November 28, 2017
KARA SWISHER—10:46 P.M.
Hey have you heard a not so nice story coming out about Matt Lauer? Curious if it has gotten out.
ME—4:56 A.M.
I know a lot of folks have been digging. I don’t know much more than that and only know about rumors of playing around. I was happily oblivious or just too focused on my job! What have u heard?!
KARA—7:42 A.M.
Focused on interns. Not Charlie Rose level but no bueno.
ME—7:45 A.M.
Ay ay ay ay ay
91
Morning Has Broken
NOVEMBER 29TH, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
I was sleeping soundly in a high-thread-count cocoon at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills; Ellie, now living in LA, had spent the night. We often had slumber parties when I was on the West Coast so we could hang out but also so she could enjoy the luxurious bedding and spa-like shower that only a four-star hotel can provide. My phone went off and I squinted to see who could be calling me this early. My old friend Dana Keller.
“Hello,” I croaked.
“Matt Lauer has been fired.”
“What?”
In a matter of seconds I went from unconscious to feeling like I’d chugged eight cups of coffee. Alerts were coming in fast and furious. Politico: “Today Show Host Matt Lauer Fired for ‘Inappropriate Sexual Behavior.’” The New York Times: “NBC Fires Matt Lauer, the Face of ‘Today.’” Vanity Fair: “An Emotional ‘Today’ Grapples with Matt Lauer’s Sexual Misconduct Allegation.”
I turned to Twitter and watched a clip of the most bizarre open in TODAY show history. Live from studio 1A, there was Savannah, with Hoda Kotb sitting next to her, on the verge of tears as she shared the news they’d just learned—that Matt was out. I could only imagine how impossible it must have been to process what had happened and share it with the world.
The sun hadn’t even come up in Los Angeles and my phone was exploding.
Kara Swisher—4:09 A.M.
And there we go on Lauer
Norah O’Donnell—4:26 A.M.
Hey. It’s Norah. What do you make of this???
Joanne Lipman—5:00 A.M.
Shocking news…If you’re up for it, USA TODAY’s audience would love an op-ed by you, or a video op-ed （new thing we’re doing）。 Let me know. Thanks!
Matthew Hiltzik—6:33 A.M.
Call me pls
Megyn Kelly—2:26 P.M.
Hey there—hope you’re well. Getting the show together for tomorrow—do you have any interest in coming on to react to the ML news? Would be a thoughtful discussion. What a day, KC. Wow.
Xoxo
In the blink of an eye, “Where in the world is Matt Lauer?” had become “What in the world is up with Matt Lauer?”
My first impulse was to call Debbie Kosofsky, perhaps Matt’s closest friend at TODAY. They had worked together in Boston and he adored her, as did I. We shared a birthday and were the same age; she was a grown-up. Surely Debbie would know what was happening.
“Debbie, my God,” I said when she answered.
“It’s a mess,” she said, sounding distraught. “It’s a real mess.”
“Where are you?” I asked. “Are you with him?”
“I’m picking him up and driving him to see Jack. He wants to speak to him in person.”
Jack, the oldest of Matt’s three kids, was in boarding school. My heart sank as I contemplated the conversation they were about to have.
I couldn’t imagine what it was like to be Matt at that moment, with practically the whole world reacting to your plummet from grace. Your family—your children—having to process something so painful and public. Had Matt seen this up ahead—had he been fearful that the MeToo movement was coming for him next? Was his on-air indignation with Bill O’Reilly all an act, a preemptive bid for plausible deniability? Was our conversation at Elio’s just three weeks earlier his way of preparing me—grooming me—to be sympathetic?
I called Terry Schaefer, a producer I’d known since my early days in Washington; she’d overseen a finding-my-roots piece in Eufaula featuring my dad and me.