Five months after he was fired, Matt Lauer has issued a denial.
The disgraced former host of the "Today" show is lashing out at "the many false stories from anonymous or biased sources" as he breaks his silence about his November dismissal for inappropriate sexual behavior.
Lauer issued a statement when he was axed by NBC in November, and he tells the Washington Post in another missive this week that "any allegations or reports of coercive, aggressive or abusive actions on my part, at any time, are absolutely false."
"Five months ago I was terminated by NBC after admitting to past relationships with co-workers," he said in the new statement. "A day later I took responsibility, apologized to the people I had hurt and promised to begin the process of repairing the damage I had caused my family. I have worked every day since then to honor that promise."
Lauer added in the statement that he remained silent to protect his loved ones, but said "defending my family now requires me to speak up."
"I fully acknowledge that I acted inappropriately as a husband, father and principal at NBC," the statement read. "However I want to make it perfectly clear that any allegations or reports of coercive, aggressive or abusive actions on my part, at any time, are absolutely false."
Former co-host Ann Curry had told the Washington Post that an NBC employee confided in her in 2012 that she was "sexually harassed physically" by Lauer.
"A woman approached me and asked me tearfully if I could help her. She was afraid of losing her job. ... I believed her," Curry told the newspaper.
Curry said she told management "they had a problem and they needed to keep an eye on him and how he deals with women."
The management that Curry says she reported it to is no longer with NBC News.
