Matt Lauer has been back in the headlines lately. He just released a scathing op-ed attempting to take down Ronan Farrow's book, Catch and Kill, which delves into sexual assault scandals, including the shocking allegations against Matt. In the op-ed, Matt attacked the journalist's reporting. Sources say he's been determined to clear his name and discredit the book.
Now, just days after the piece went live, he's been spotted with a new arm tattoo and the message is … pretty intense and a bit grim. The photo was obtained by Us Weekly. In it, you can see the former Today show host driving his car in New York. On his right forearm, the words "Hatred corrodes the container it's carried in" are clearly inked.
Obviously, it's been a turbulent couple of years for Matt Lauer, given the seriousness of the allegations against him. However, the arm tattoo has us asking even more questions.
It's been a really rocky couple of years for Matt Lauer. In 2017, the Today show host fell from grace. He was fired immediately by NBC after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. Since then, we've heard a lot about those allegations, but not much from Matt himself.
He has basically stayed out of the public eye since the allegations against him came out. But now we're finding out more details about what may have actually happened. Brooke Nevils, one of the coworkers who alleges that he assaulted her, details her experience in the book.
In the book, Brooke says she was having drinks with Meredith Vieira when Matt joined them. There was heavy drinking involved, and the two ended up in Matt's hotel room, she says. But she maintains that she didn't plan on a sexual encounter taking place and that Matt forced himself on her.
The details of her allegations are absolutely horrific. She says that Matt anally raped her. In the book, she describes the encounter as being incredibly painful. She also says that she bled and was in pain for days afterward.
Most people aren't all that interested in hearing what Matt has to say on the subject. But his new op-ed dismissed the claims completely. He admits to having had sexual encounters with Brooke but says that everything that happened was completely consensual.
Having been fired and publicly ostracized, obviously, Matt has gone through a lot of upheaval in recent years. His new tattoo seems like further proof of that. But it's leaving us with quite a few questions, like who is he placing the blame on? Who does he hate? And … why the tattoo?
Sources have said that Matt is determined to discredit the book. So it seems likely that it could be Ronan Farrow whom Matt is most angry at. Of course, it could also be anger at those who have alleged misconduct. It's hard to say, and chances are, Matt is not going to come out and discuss his new ink anytime soon.
While Matt has now been incredibly clear that the book lacks evidence, Ronan is defending his journalistic integrity. He took to Twitter to say that the reporting was fair and thorough. "All I'll say on this is that Matt Lauer is just wrong," Ronan wrote on Tuesday. "Catch and Kill was thoroughly reported and fact-checked, including with Matt Lauer himself."
Matt obviously has a lot of feelings on the matter — but does anyone really care what he has to say? It seems like most people are on board with giving survivors the benefit of the doubt. Between that and the fact that there was more than one claim of misconduct against him, it doesn't seem likely that Matt will be able to clear his name.
Still, we're guessing this is not the last time we'll hear from him. With stories like these, there's usually more information that comes out over time. When it does, it's likely he will have something to say about it.
Or maybe his body art will do the talking.
