>>> JOINING US NOW FOR THE INTERVIEW IS RONAN FARROW, WHO
WON THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR
DECADES OF SEXUAL PREDATORY
MISCONDUCT.
MISCONDUCT. HIS BOOK ABOUT REPORTING THAT
STORY AND THE VAST RESOURCES
WEINSTEIN TRIED TO EMPLOY TO
STOP IT AND THAT’S CALLED "CATCH
& KILL," LIES, SPIES, AND
CONSPIRACY TO PROTECT PREDATORS,
IT’S EVERYWHERE.
IT’S EVERYWHERE. RONAN, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
>> PLEASURE.
>> PLEASURE. THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS.
>> I SORT OF SUMMARIZED THE
CONTEXT OF THIS STORY, HOW I
THINK YOUR BOOK FITS INTO IT AND
WHAT I’VE LEARNED.
LET ME ASK YOU IF I GOT THAT
WRONG.
WRONG. >> I THINK THAT WAS VERY
ACCURATE, VERY FAIR SUMMARY.
>> AND I DO BELIEVE THAT IT IS
NEW, THIS STATEMENT FROM
NBCUNIVERSAL TONIGHT THAT
ANYBODY WHO BELIEVES THEY’RE
CONSTRAINED FROM TALKING ABOUT
SEXUAL ABUSE OR SEXUAL
HARASSMENT BY NON-DISPARAGEMENT
OR NON-CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSE,
IF THEY COME FORWARD TO
NBCUNIVERSAL, THEY’RE RELEASED
FOR THAT.
FOR THAT. >> IT’S NEW AND NBC EXECUTIVES
DESERVE PRAISE FOR THEM.
TODAY, I’VE TALKED TO MULTIPLE
WOMEN WHO KNEW I WAS TALKING
ABOUT THIS MORE AND WERE IN
AGONY TO BE CONSTRAINED BY THIS.
REBUTTALS INCLUDING THE CLAIM
THIS WAS ALL A COINCIDENCE,
PAYING OUT THESE WOMEN WHO
HAPPEN TO HAVE THE HARASSMENT
CLAIMS ABOUT LAUER AND OTHERS.
THAT SAID, THESE WOMEN CONSIDER
THESE TO BE PAYOUTS TO SILENCE
THEM.
THEM. EXECUTIVES INVOLVED TOLD ME THEY
WERE PAYOUTS TO SILENCE THEM.
THE FACT THEY’RE ENDING THAT AND
RELEASING THESE WOMEN IS
SIGNIFICANT AND SHOULD BE A
MODEL FOR OTHER COMPANIES.
>> I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO TRACK
THIS DOWN MYSELF.
IT’S SUCH A SPECIFIC CLAIM.
SO EMPIRICAL THAT I FEEL LIKE I
NAIVELY BELIEVE I SHOULD BE ABLE
TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS BY
THE TIME I HAD YOU ON THE SHOW
TODAY.
TODAY. >> SOUNDS LIKE YOU MADE SOME
HEADWAY.
HEADWAY. >> BUT ON THE ISSUE OF WHETHER
OR NOT ENHANCED SEVERANCE OF THE
OTHER TYPES OF PAYMENT DEALS AND
THE TYPES OF LANGUAGE PEOPLE
SIGN WHEN THEY LEAVE, WHETHER
WOMEN WHO HAD ALLEGATIONS
AGAINST MATT LAUER WERE TREATED
ANY DIFFERENTLY OTHER THAN OTHER
PEOPLE WHO LEFT THE COMPANY
UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES THAT DIDN’T
HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH CLAIMS
OF SEXUAL MISBEHAVIOR, I FEEL
LIKE THAT’S, THOSE ARE TWO DATA
SETS YOU COULD COMPARE.
DID YOU ACTUALLY GET ACCESS TO
NORMAL SEVERANCE TO COMPARE THIS
TO?
TO? >> YES, AND IT’S LAID OUT
CLEARLY IN THE BOOK.
THIS WAS DESCRIBED ATYPICAL.
NOT PART OF THE GENERAL PROCESS
OF PEOPLE LEAVING THE COMPANY BY
JUST ABOUT EVERYONE INVOLVED IN
THE TRANSACTIONS, EXCEPT FOR THE
SPOKESPEOPLE PUTTING OUT THE
STATEMENTS NOW, ON THE INSIDE,
NOT ONLY THE WOMEN WHO RECEIVED
THESE PAYOUTS AND THEIR AGENTS
BUT ALSO SENIOR EXECUTIVES ON
THE NBCUNIVERSAL SIDE WHO
BROKERED THESE AGREEMENTS
DESCRIBED THEM OPENLY AS SEXUAL
HARASSMENT SETTLEMENTS.
HARASSMENT SETTLEMENTS. >> OKAY.
>> OKAY. IN TERMS OF THIS CHANGE THAT’S
BEEN ANNOUNCED TONIGHT RIGHT
HERE FROM NBCUNIVERSAL SAYING
THAT THESE NONDISPARAGEMENT OR
CONFIDENTIAL CLAUSES DON’T
CONSTRAIN WOMEN FROM TALKING
ABOUT THESE THINGS.
BASED ON YOUR REPORTING FROM
WHAT YOU JUST DESCRIBED AN
ONGOING REPORTING SINCE THE
BOOK, IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU THINK
THAT WOMEN WILL COME FORWARD NOW
ONCE THEY’VE BEEN RELEASED.
>> THAT WILL BE THEIR CHOICE BUT
WOMEN FELT CONSTRAINED, THEY
WERE AGONIZED OVER THAT AND I
THINK THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY
TOWARDS MAKING THEM FEEL THAT
THEY CAN DISCUSS THIS OPENLY.
>> WHY DO YOU THINK THAT YOU
WERE TOLD TO PAUSE FOR THE
REPORTING ON YOUR WEINSTEIN
STORY AT NBC NEWS?
I WAS ABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY
VERIFY THIS.
VERIFY THIS. NBC NEWS CONFIRMING TO ME THAT
HAPPENED BUT THEY SAY IT WAS DUE
TO CONCERNS ABOUT YOUR REPORTING
AND A BREAKDOWN OF TRUST BETWEEN
YOU AND THE INVESTIGATIVE UNIT.
WHY DO YOU HOLISTICALLY, NOT IN
ONE OF ONE OF THESE INSTANCES IN
PARTICULAR BUT HOLISTICALLY WHY
DO YOU THINK THEY TOLD YOU TO
PAUSE YOUR REPORTING?
>> THE PAST ROUNDS OF LEGAL AND
STANDARDS REVIEWS, NO BREAKDOWN
OF TRUST.
OF TRUST. I WAS TOLD SPECIFICALLY THERE
WERE NO ISSUES WITH THE
REPORTING AGAIN AND AGAIN AND
OVER THE COURSE OF THE REPORTING
WE LAID OUT HERE, THERE IS A
PAPER TRAIL OF THE SHUTTING DOWN
OF THE STORY, INCLUDING NOAH
OPPENHEIM, THE PRESIDENT OF NBC
NEWS, ON SIX OCCASIONS ORDERING
US TO STOP REPORTING.
THE HEAD UNDERNEATH HIM EIGHT
TIMES TO STOP REPORTING THAT
EVENTUALLY ESCALATED TO ORDERING
US TO CANCEL INTERVIEWS.
YOU CAN JUDGE FOR YOURSELF
WHETHER WHAT WE HAD WAS ENOUGH.
WE HAD A TAPE OF WEINSTEIN
ADMITTING TO SEXUAL ASSAULT AND
MULTIPLE NAMED WOMEN IN EVERY
VERSION OF THE STORY BUT THAT’S
ACTUALLY NOT THE POINT.
THE ORDER TO STOP WAS
UNJOURNALISTIC AND THAT’S NOT
JUST MY ACCOUNT BUT WORKING
LEVEL PRODUCER’S COUNT.
HE RECENTLY WROTE A PIECE FOR
"VANITY FAIR" SAYING IT WAS
INAPPROPRIATE SHUTDOWN OF
REPORTING AND WE WERE CONCERNED
PEOPLE WERE GOING TO CONTINUE TO
GET HURT.
GET HURT. WHAT THE BOOK LAYS OUT IS THAT
THIS WAS A SET OF EXECUTIVES
MAKING THESE DECISIONS ALL THE
WAY UP TO OUR PARENT COMPANY WHO
WERE CORNERED ON SOME VERY
DIFFICULT ISSUES WITHIN THE
COMPANY.
COMPANY. AND IF, INDEED, THEY ARE MOVING
TOWARDS MORE TRANSPARENCY,
RELEASING WOMEN FROM NDA’S,
MAYBE THIS INDEPENDENT REVIEW
PEOPLE IN THE BUILDING HAVE
CALLED FOR AGAIN AND AGAIN,
THOSE WOULD BE POSITIVE STEPS.
>> IN TERMS OF CANCELLING
INTERVIEWS, THE INTERVIEWS THAT
YOU SAY NBC CANCELLED, WERE
THOSE INTERVIEWS IN SHADOW,
INTERVIEWS ON CAMERA OR WERE
THOSE INTERVIEWS OFF CAMERA?
WHAT KINDS OF INTERVIEWS WERE
THEY CANCELLING?
THEY CANCELLING? >> THAT INCLUDES FULLY ON THE
RECORD OFFERS TO GO ON CAMERA
FULL-FACED, JUST WONDERFUL BRAVE
WOMAN, EMILY NESTER WHOSE GONE
ON RECORD IN RECENT DAYS AND IN
THE BOOK HOW SHE OFFERED THE
STORY ON NBC.
ROSE McGOWAN ON FACE, GETTING
INTIMIDATING LEGALLY AND
FRUSTRATED WITH NBC SLOW ROLLING
THE STORY FOR MONTHS.
PULLED OUT.
PULLED OUT. THE MOMENT THAT HAPPENED, EMILY
NESTER SAID I’LL RECORD MY
INTERVIEW AGAIN.
INTERVIEW AGAIN. PREVIOUSLY IN SHADOW.
FULL FACE.
FULL FACE. THE EXECUTIVES HERE WERE NOT
INTERESTED IN THAT.
SO IT INCLUDED A COMBINATION OF
INTERVIEWS IN SHADOW, WHICH WE
DO VERY OFTEN IN OUR
INVESTIGATIVE STORIES INCLUDING
ONES I’VE AIRED ON THIS NETWORK
AND ALL FULL FACE ON THE RECORD
ACCOUNTS THAT WERE VERY
EXPLOSIVE AND ULTIMATELY PART OF
THE NEW YORKER STORY.
>> WHEN NBC NEWS TOLD US
TONIGHT, AGAIN, I THINK THIS
MIGHT BE UNPRECEDENTED STATEMENT
FROM THEM.
FROM THEM. WE VERY MUCH WANTED TO BREAK
THIS STORY, WHICH IS WHY WE
ASSIGNED IT AND SUPPORTED IT
EDITORIALLY AND FINANCIALLY FOR
SEVEN MONTHS.
SEVEN MONTHS. WE ARE PROFOUNDLY DISAPPOINTED
WE WEREN’T ABLE TO DO SO.
THAT MIGHT JUST SOUND LIKE
EXPRESSION OF FEELINGS.
I SAY INSIDE THE BUILDING, THE
EXPRESSION OF PROFOUND
DISAPPOINTMENT IS MEANINGFUL TO
ME BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE I’VE BEEN
WAITING TO HEAR THAT BUT I WANT
TO PUT IT TO YOU AND ASK YOU HOW
THAT STRIKES YOU AND WHETHER YOU
SHARE THIS SENSE OF THAT AS A
SIGNIFICANT IMPRESSION.
SIGNIFICANT IMPRESSION. >> THE BOOK IN A WAY IS A LOVE
LETTER TO FELLOW REPORTERS,
INCLUDING ACROSS THIS BUILDING
AT NBC NEWS.
MANY OF THEM ARE SOURCES THAT
ALLOWED ME TO TELL THIS STORY.
THEY WERE LIED TO.
THE GENERAL COUNSEL SAID WE HAD
NO SETTLEMENTS IN THIS PERIOD
WHERE WE ULTIMATELY LAY OUT A
PAPER TRAIL OF SEVEN
SETTLEMENTS.
SETTLEMENTS. THERE’S A FEELING IN THE
BUILDING THAT COVERAGE IS BEING
DISTORTED AND GOOD JOURNALISTS
HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT.
I THINK THE TRANSITION FROM
ALMOST TRUMPIAN RESPONSE OF WE
DIG IN, WE REITERATE THE TALKING
POINT THAT THERE WASN’T A THERE
THERE TO THE STORY, TO SOMETHING
THAT MORE FORTHRIGHTLY
ACKNOWLEDGES DISAPPOINTMENT AND
A NEED TO RELEASE PEOPLE FROM
NON-DISCLOSURE FROM
NON-DISCLOSURE FROM NONSCORE AGREEMENTS IS IMMENSELY
POSITIVE AND I CAN ONLY IMAGINE
WILL BE RECEIVED WELL HERE.
>> THERE’S ONE OTHER ASPECT ON
THIS THAT I WANT TO ASK YOU
ABOUT THAT ACTUALLY I’M GOING TO
ASK YOU ABOUT BOTH AS A LAWYER
AND A REPORTER.
BUT IF YOU COULD STICK WITH US
THROUGH THE BREAK, I’LL ASK YOU