Matt Lauer fired by NBC News after 'inappropriate sexual behavior' complaint

Matt Lauer has been fired by NBC News. 

The announcement was made Wednesday morning on the TODAY Show. 

NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack released this statement: 

"Dear colleagues, on Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company's standards. As a result, we've decided to terminate his employment. While its is the first complaint about his behavior in the over 20 years he's been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident."

Lack  said in a memo to employees that the complaint from a colleague of Lauer's prompted a serious review and represented a "clear violation of our company's standards."

Lack said it was the first complaint lodged against Lauer, 59, for his behavior since he took over as anchor of the show in 1997, but there was "reason to believe" it wasn't an isolated incident.

"Our highest priority is to create a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected, and to ensure that any actions that run counter to our core values are met with consequences, no matter who the offender," Lack said. "We are deeply saddened by this turn of events. But we will face it together as a news organization – and do it in as transparent a manner as we can. To that end, Noah and I will be meeting with as many of you as possible throughout the day today to answer your questions."

Lauer's firing comes a week after CBS News fired morning anchor Charlie Rose amid reports of sexual misconduct.

Trump tweets

President Trump jumped into the conversation minutes after Lauer's firing was announced. He tweeted "when will the top executives at NBC & Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News. Check out Andy Lack's past!"