--- description: Addie Zinone, who said she had a consensual relationship with Matt Lauer, said that the relationship was still an abuse of power. title: Former 'Today' Staffer: Relationship With Matt Lauer Was 'Abuse of Power' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52e69217936607ad/6988f32fcf40a80173c4a673/matt-lauer.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Media](/tag/media/) ## Media Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Former _Today_ Staffer Says Consensual Relationship With Matt Lauer Was an 'Abuse of Power'  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 18, 2017 4:24 PM CUT  Matt Lauer attends NBC's "Today" at Rockefeller Plaza on September 29, 2017 Matt Lauer attends NBC's "Today" at Rockefeller Plaza on September 29, 2017Noam Galai—WireImage  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 18, 2017 4:24 PM CUT The former _Today_ show staffer who said she had a [consensual relationship with Matt Lauer](http://time.com/5066133/matt-lauer-accuser-lawyer-essay/ "undefined") wants to spark a conversation about what consent looks like in the workplace. Addie Zinone told _Variety_ last week that she had a [consensual sexual relationship](http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/matt-lauer-today-secret-relationship-production-assistant-1202641040/ "undefined") with the former _Today_ co-anchor when she was a 24-year-old production assistant at NBC’s morning show. In an interview with _Megyn Kelly Today_ on Monday, Zinone said that she wasn’t calling herself a victim, but wanted people to recognize that the [relationship was still an “abuse of power.”](https://www.today.com/video/ex-today-staffer-consensual-relationship-with-matt-lauer-was-abuse-of-power-1118847555843 "undefined") > [](https://twitter.com/MegynTODAY/status/942763662984572928) “I want to put a face and a story to these women’s accusations,” Zinone said. “I’ve got to explain it in embarrassing detail because I want them to understand commonalities in our stories and be able to identify those exact same predatory behaviors. I recognized them in the stories that I heard — that’s how I knew this was a consistent pattern of behavior for him.” > [](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/942762662294933506) NBC announced on Nov. 29 that it [fired Lauer](http://time.com/5040611/matt-lauer-fired-nbc-today-show/ "undefined") after receiving a complaint of “inappropriate sexual behavior.” _Variety_ and the New York _Times_ later published more allegations of [sexual harassment](http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/matt-lauer-accused-sexual-harassment-multiple-women-1202625959/ "undefined") and [assault](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/business/media/nbc-matt-lauer.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") against Lauer. Lauer said in a Nov. 30 statement that [some of the allegations were untrue or mischaracterized](http://time.com/5042734/matt-lauer-sexual-misconduct-statement/ "undefined"), but that “there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed.” Lauer has not yet commented on Zinone’s claims. His attorney did not respond to TIME’s request for comment. Zinone said that she’s faced blowback, including being called a slut and a home-wrecker, for coming forward. But she says it’s worth it to have a broader conversation about what consent means in the workplace amid the [#MeToo movement](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-silence-breakers/ "undefined"). “There’s room for this conversation as well,” she said. “And clearly, by all the women that have come forward, we need to talk about it.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5068791/matt-lauer-staffer-megyn-kelly/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5068791/matt-lauer-staffer-megyn-kelly/"},"headline":"Former Today Staffer Says Consensual Relationship With Matt Lauer Was an 'Abuse of Power'","datePublished":"2017-12-18T16:24:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:36:55.407Z","description":"Addie Zinone, who said she had a consensual relationship with Matt Lauer, said that the relationship was still an abuse of power.","url":"https://time.com/5068791/matt-lauer-staffer-megyn-kelly/","keywords":["Media","matt lauer","sexual misconduct","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52e69217936607ad/6988f32fcf40a80173c4a673/matt-lauer.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52e69217936607ad/6988f32fcf40a80173c4a673/matt-lauer.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Camila Cabello Performs On NBC's \"Today\"","caption":"Camila Cabello Performs On NBC's \"Today\"","creditText":"Noam Galai—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/media/","name":"Media"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5068791/matt-lauer-staffer-megyn-kelly/","name":"Former Today Staffer Says Consensual Relationship With Matt Lauer Was an 'Abuse of Power'"}}]}] ```