Ronan Farrow fires back at Matt Lauer ‘shoddy journalism’ accusation: ‘Just wrong’

Ronan Farrow on Wednesday fired back at Matt Lauer’s accusation that he had practiced “shoddy journalism” when reporting on sexual misconduct allegations against the former “Today” host in 2018, stating that Lauer “is just wrong” on his claims.

The back-and-forth comes as Farrow’s reporting has come under criticism in recent days, including by New York Times media columnist Ben Smith in a piece titled, “Is Ronan Farrow too good to be true?”

“All I’ll say on this is that Matt Lauer is just wrong. ‘Catch and Kill’ was thoroughly reported and fact-checked, including with Matt Lauer himself,” Farrow wrote to his 1 million followers.

All I’ll say on this is that Matt Lauer is just wrong. Catch and Kill was thoroughly reported and fact-checked, including with Matt Lauer himself.

— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) May 19, 2020

“Catch and Kill” is Farrow’s 2019 New York Times best-seller that includes reporting on sexual assault allegations against former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, as well as Lauer, who most notably was accused of rape by former NBC staffer Brooke Nevils, a claim Lauer denies.

Lauer’s criticism of Farrow came in an extensive column in Mediaite that includes him fact-checking Farrow’s reporting himself.

Lauer concludes that Farrow had not verified specific allegations against him.

“The rush to judgment was swift. In fact, on the morning I was falsely accused of rape, and before I could even issue a statement, some journalists were already calling my accuser ‘brave’ and ‘courageous,'” he wrote.

“I was also disappointed, but not surprised, that Ronan Farrow’s overall reporting faced so little scrutiny. Until this week’s critical reporting by The New York Times, many in the media perceived his work as inherently beyond basic questioning.”

“As a search for the truth, at least with regard to my story, it was not,” Lauer later added.

“The questions I’ve posed here are both professional and deeply personal. I ask people to consider how they would react if someone they loved were accused of something horrific and basic journalistic standards were ignored because of a desire to sell books. I also urge people to remember that there are two sides to all stories,” he also wrote.

Nevils appeared to respond to Lauer’s column on Tuesday afternoon without mentioning his name directly.

“DARVO: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender,” she wrote.

DARVO: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender

— Brooke Nevils (@BrookeNevils) May 19, 2020

NBCUniversal said in October it would not open an outside investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against Lauer, stating it was “very confident” in its handling of the claims internally.

The decision to announce the dismissal of an outside investigation came after former NBC News hosts Megyn Kelly and Linda Vester called on the Comcast-owned network to conduct an independent inquiry into its handling of Lauer.

“There is no additional investigation being launched. We are very confident in the report that was conducted,” NBCUniversal spokeswoman Hilary Smith told The Hollywood Reporter on Oct. 18.