A day after two women accused Tom Brokaw of sexually harassing them in the 90s, an open letter defending his “tremendous decency and integrity” was signed by over 60 women who currently do or have previously worked for NBC News, including anchors like Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell, and Maria Shriver. Mika Brzezinski joined over Twitter on Friday evening, saying, “add me to the list.” It parallels the “but-he-elevated-women” template which Katie Roiphe used for former Paris Review editor Lorin Stein and Lena Dunham did for Girls writer Murray Miller, and the less credible “this-isn’t-the-person-I-knew” statements which Katie Couric and Savannah Guthrie made on behalf of Matt Lauer.
Brokaw wrote in a 4AM email published by the New York Times that he is “angry, hurt and unmoored from what I thought would be the final passage of my life and career” and “ambushed and then perp walked across the pages of The Washington Post and Variety.” Meanwhile, Joy Reid’s slogging it out on her own.
Here’s the letter, in full:
Subject: Letter on Tom Brokaw
As professional women, we fully endorse the conversation around abuse of power in the workplace. In the context of that conversation, we would like to share our perspectives on working with Tom Brokaw.
We are current and former colleagues of Tom’s, who have worked with him over a period spanning four decades. We are producers, correspondents, anchors, directors, executives, researchers, personal assistants, editors and technical staff.
Tom has treated each of us with fairness and respect. He has given each of us opportunities for advancement and championed our successes throughout our careers. As we have advanced across industries — news, publishing, law, business and government — Tom has been a valued source of counsel and support. We know him to be a man of tremendous decency and integrity.
Signed,
Susanna Aaron