Matt Lauer Accuser Breaks Down While Explaining Why She Didn't Report the 'Superstar Harasser' Right Away: 'I Was Trapped'

Brooke Nevils, the woman who accused Matt Lauer of sexual assault in 2017, got emotional during an interview with CNN that aired on Thursday, April 30, as she reflected on her experience with the disgraced Today star.

Speaking to anchor Pamela Brown, she explained that before she came forward, Lauer "could literally do no wrong" at NBC, stressing it was "unthinkable to imagine" her accusations could be viewed as "anything other than a misunderstanding."

Nevils alleged the anchor anally raped her in his hotel room during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. She claimed she was drunk and could not consent at the time.

She later admitted they continued having “sexual" interactions after returning to New York.

When asked why she didn't report the assault immediately, Nevils' voice broke as she responded it was her "job to smooth things over for the talent."

"So, I thought, 'This, I know how to do. I can smooth this over,'" she recalled. "So, I went back... and when I went back, the first thing that happened was he suggested I come meet him in his apartment."

Nevils explained, "When you’re sitting in the dressing room of the anchor of the Today show in Studio 1A, are you really in a position to say no? Of course, you’re not. And that just happened again and again."

"The most confusing part of it was that every single time, I thought I was fixing it. I was taking back control, but really, I was implicating myself in my own abuse," she continued. "Then, by the time I understood that I was trapped, I knew I was going to be blamed for all of it. And I blamed myself."

Earlier this year, the former NBC talent assistant published a book, Unspeakable Things: Silence, Shame and the Stories We Choose to Believe, detailing the sexual encounters she had with Lauer.

At another point in her interview with Brown, she said, "While I was researching this book, I interviewed a forensic psychologist who casually mentioned this EEOC report that I then looked up and it describes these 'superstar harassers.'"

She said the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission report warned employers against these potential "rain makers" who "are perceived to be so valuable to a company that they can do no wrong."

Within 24 hours of Nevils filing a formal complaint against Lauer in 2017, he was fired from Today and banished from NBC. Several other women also stepped forward with accusations.