A popular host on Fox News issued a head-scratching defense of Matt Lauer yesterday evening, then got hit with his own allegation of groping.
Geraldo Rivera defended Lauer in a series of tweets arguing that sexual harassment allegations “may be criminalizing courtship” and downplaying the former “Today” show hosts firing by claiming “news is a flirty business.”
Lauer’s actions were anything but simple flirtation according to numerous reports.
He was:
- Accused of sexually assaulting a woman in his office in 2001.
- Accused of sending lewd texts to interns and staffers.
- Pinched Katie Couric “on the ass a lot.”
- Sent a colleague a sex toy that included a detailed message on it’s intended use.
- Allegedly called a female staffer into his office where he promptly dropped his pants and exposed himself.
But hey, that’s all just part and parcel of working in “a flirty business,” eh Geraldo?
Sad about @MLauer great guy, highly skilled & empathetic w guests & a real gentleman to my family & me. News is a flirty business & it seems like current epidemic of #SexHarassmentAllegations may be criminalizing courtship & conflating it w predation. What about #GarrisonKeillor?
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) November 29, 2017
Aside from being pilloried on social media for making such an asinine comment, Geraldo got slapped with something he surely didn’t see coming – a freshly resurfaced groping allegation involving singer and Hollywood actress, Bette Midler.
During an interview in 1991, Midler accused Rivera of groping her some time in the ’70s. Her story is rather startling.
“Geraldo and his producer came to do an interview with me, in the ’70s, in the early ’70s,” Midler tells Barbara Walters. “This was when he was very hot.”
“He and his producer left the crew in the other room, they pushed me into my bathroom, they pushed two poppers under my nose, and proceeded to grope me,” she describes. “I did not offer myself up on the altar of Geraldo Rivera. He was unseemly.”
Geraldo Rivera drugged and sexually assaulted Bette Midler, she claims. Will his career be over by Thursday morning after this video goes viral? pic.twitter.com/ugOsCYVb3C
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) November 30, 2017
Rivera has yet to comment on the Midler interview, but issued an apology and/or explanation of his previous tweets downplaying Lauer’s accusations.
Reaction to my tweets today on #sexharassment makes clear
I didn’t sufficiently explain that this is a horrendous problem
long hidden-Harassers are deviants who deserve what is coming
to them-Often victims are too frightened to come
forward in a timely fashion-I humbly apologize— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) November 30, 2017
The Fox News host published an autobiography the same year that Midler made her accusations to Walters. It was titled, Exposing Myself.
A review of the book by the Washington Post describes the book as an account of “everything his public was dying to know about his alleged conquests of Bette Midler” along with others, including prostitutes.
Regarding Midler, Rivera wrote “We were in the bathroom, preparing for the interview, and at some point I put my hands on her breasts.”
What do you make of these comments by Rivera, and the interview involving Bette Midler? Share your thoughts below!
