MSNBC prime-time host Chris Hayes addressed the ongoing scrutiny NBC is facing in regard to allegations that surfaced in Ronan Farrow’s new book during his show Monday night.
In his book, Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, Farrow detailed the lengths network executives went to in order to squash his reporting about ex-Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, their actions following a rape allegation against Matt Lauer from a subordinate, and how Weinstein allegedly tried to extort the network into hiding his own sexual misconduct allegations.
Hayes began the segment by discussing the NBA’s recent feud with China over the Hong Kong protesters and Republicans who choose not to stand up against the president, arguing that in both examples, people followed “the path of least resistance.” He then turned and used the same argument to hit his own network.
Hayes began, “Heck, I feel the tug of it myself as my own news organization is embroiled in a very public controversy over its conduct.”
“In Farrow’s view, he was unable to break through what was effectively a conspiracy of silence from NBC News management,” he went on, before reading NBC News’ denial. “One thing, though, is indisputable. Ronan Farrow walked out of NBC News after working on the Weinstein story and within two months published an incredible article at the New Yorker that not only won a Pulitzer, but helped trigger a massive social and cultural reckoning that continues to this day.”
Network President Noah Oppenheim sent a memo to the company claiming that Farrow “is clearly motivated not by a pursuit of truth” but rather is driven by having “an axe to grind” with NBC News.
“Of course, there’s a reason it took so long for the true story about Weinstein to be told, for the many allegations of him to stay locked in a vault,” Hayes concluded. “And that’s because time and again, the path of least resistance for those in power was to not cross Weinstein or his army of friends and lawyers. Same goes for the many, many, many other powerful predators that we’ve come to know about.”
