On the "Lauer Not Doing Well" Item

If I'm supposed to feel sorry for him, I absolutely do not. That was exactly how I felt immediately when I read this above an article from People Magazine: "Inside Matt Lauer's Quiet Life 1 Year After Today Show Firing: 'He's Not Doing Well'.

Since his network heave-ho, Lauer has been in retreat at his home.  More accurately, his multi-million dollar compound in The Hamptons. Reportedly, he'd also generated income from some property he owned in New Zealand. We read that he was given millions in his NBC exit package. Last year, we read that some of the women who were the objects of his irresponsible, in-office sexual urges were in the minimum wage category.  They were afraid to speak out for fear of losing their jobs. They needed the money. He made enough to afford a fabulous place in Manhattan and this place in The Hamptons.

That's what really riles me about the way People Magazine headlined that article. I re-tweeted it and dozens of folks tweeted that they had the same initial reaction that I did: They absolutely did not feel sorry for him. We all care more about the women.

Last year, when the righteous "Me Too" fire started, and we heard that women were afraid to speak out about sexual harassment from Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men, I knew exactly how they felt.  And I told my friend Keith Price that I did.  Keith is also black and also gay.  No, I was not sexually harassed. But, as a black man who worked in some temples of toxic white masculinity, I often felt a racial inequality.  However, I was warned to keep quiet about my mistreatment or else I'd lose my job. My average wage job.  Yes. I knew exactly why the women didn't speak up -- and I believed the women. I knew how the felt.

I believe that there are two sides to that toxic masculinity coin. One side has the sexual harassment and other disrespect for women. The other side has racism, racial inequality and white privilege.

As some of you friends and acquaintances know, I was contacted and hired by WNBC News in 1992 to be a regular on its soon to debut live weekend morning news program, called "TODAY in New York." We'd be the local lead-in for NBC's weekend edition of TODAY. I went to WNBC having had my own prime time celebrity talk show on VH1, having done guest appearances on CBS Late Night, and having been a guest host a few times on CNBC's TALK LIVE. The WNBC show premiered in September 1992. That summer, I'd been seen as the host of a month-long syndicated summer replacement night time game show called BEDROOM BUDDIES. (Critics hated that goofy but it was a fun gig. My director was Glenn Weiss, the guy who stole this year's Emmy Awards show by proposing marriage to his girlfriend during his acceptance speech.)  The point is -- I had skills and experience. In the first weekend of the show, I was switched from doing entertainment reports and celebrity interviews and assigned to be the man-on-the-street who'd tell viewers about community events like bake sales, street fairs and such. The initial invitation I got was to do film reviews and other entertainment pieces in-studio. That appealed to me because black talent was rarely, if ever, seen as a regular film critic on a live news program.

A couple of the white WNBC producers assigned to our show, people who'd neither read my resume nor seen my previous work, questioned whether or not I had the skills to cover entertainment. I was pissed and contacted my union. Then my boyfriend was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS. This was in 1992. Before QUEER EYE, WILL & GRACE and the ELLEN daytime show. Gay men with AIDS were treated like lepers. My partner was out of work and I became his caregiver. He eventually moved into my studio apartment with me.

A confidante in the WNBC newsroom warned me to keep mum on being gay and having a partner with AIDS even though I was in good health. He told me to keep quiet about it because management, at that time, was not really LGBT-friendly. So, I was angry that, with all my credits, I had to fight for equal opportunities at the job. I was angry that I had to keep quiet that my partner was terminally ill with AIDS. And I was angry that I needed the part-time job money to take care of myself and the man I loved. I felt like I wanted to scream but had to throw a hand over my own mouth.

Yes. I knew how those women felt.

When I did do celebrity interviews on the show, it's because I pushed and fought to do them. I had to push and fight harder if the celebrities were black or Latinx.

In 1993, I knew I wasn't the only person who felt a toxic Caucasian masculinity there. A white male network news producer, in a staff meeting, used a racial slur twice to refer to African soldiers. This story got out and made the local papers. The producer was contacted and -- admitted what he said without apology. He told the New York Daily News columnist that the term "jungle bunnies" is one that exists in the minds of many people.

He was not fired by NBC. He was not even suspended. You can imagine how black and Latinx employees felt about that.

When our local news show premiered, the male half of our 2-person anchor team was Matt Lauer. I worked with him for a month or so. Matt was replaced because NBC execs had started his ascension from local to network stardom on TODAY.

My partner passed in June 1994. I stayed with the show long enough to pay off his funeral expenses. In January 1995, my white male news director boss called me in for a meeting. He told me that my work was excellent and I was very popular with viewers.  However:
-- He wanted me to continue without a contract
-- I would remain part-time and not advance to full-time employment
-- I would not be moving up to any network opportunities.

I gave notice within the hour. Two weeks later, I walked away from a hit show.

Two months later, that WNBC news director asked me to come back. I didn't.

So when I read that Matt Lauer is "not doing well," I say "Bullshit." He may be miserable, but if he's still living on his multi-million dollar estate in The Hamptons, he's doing well.  It's the women that People Magazine should care about.  Just my opinion.

Here are some of "skills" WNBC producers didn't think I had. My VH1 talk show. I did it without a teleprompter, without cue cards and without an earpiece.