Linda Vester, former NBC host and Tom Brokaw accuser, insists everybody at network knew Matt Lauer was 'dangerous'

Former NBC host Linda Vester dashed NBC News' claims that they were previously unaware of ex-employee Matt Lauer's alleged sexual behaviors.

Journalist Ronan Farrow's new book, "Catch and Kill," exposed NBC's alleged cone of silence when dealing with sexual misconduct allegations such as those levied against Lauer. Lauer was ultimately dismissed from NBC as a result of those allegations.

NBC has previously insisted they were unaware of any such behaviors before the formal complaint against Lauer.

What are the details?

Vester, who in 2018 accused Tom Brokaw of sexual harassment, insisted that there is a culture of ignorance at NBC. Despite Vester's claims, Brokaw insisted he was not guilty of any wrongdoing.

In a Wednesday night discussion with Fox News' Shannon Bream, Vester said, "I think Ronan Farrow's meticulous reporting is showing that NBC was not honest when it conducted its own internal investigation of sexual misconduct. In fact, they just really didn't get to the bottom of it at all."

Vester insisted that everyone at the network — including executives like Andy Lack and Noah Oppenheim — were well aware of Lauer's "dangerous" behaviors.

"I think that's an inherent problem that has to stop at NBC News," she explained. “It has to stop and Comcast, the parent company of NBC, has to now finally launch a real investigation, because Ronan is reporting, among other things, that NBC apparently did know that Matt was a problem."

Vester went on to point out that employees at NBC simply knew to avoid Lauer when possible.

"And let me tell you, from having worked at NBC News for nearly a decade, everybody knew, we all knew Matt was dangerous," she insisted. "That he had to be avoided at all costs. So, for NBC executives to say they didn't know, I have a hard time with that."

Vester pointed out that the company's culture of silence, and of slipping incidents under the rug, enabled bad behavior.

"There's a problem with abuse of power at NBC News, where people like Matt Lauer, people like Tom Brokaw, they are enabled day after day by having so much power over women and the careers of women," Vester added.

What else?

In a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post, Vester pleaded with the news organization to conduct an independent investigation into the company and its policies.

"I want NBC to stop fighting #MeToo within its own walls. I ask NBC Universal to retain an outside investigator to look into sexual harassment and any coverup of sexual harassment at NBC News," she wrote in in the 2018 essay. "People in power at NBC News, and all institutions, must take such accusations seriously."

Vester is also the founder of the Silence Breakers Alliance, which funds non-profit organizations that are working toward ending sexual harassment in the workplace.

She wasn't the only one who has been calling for such an investigation: former Fox-turned-NBC host Megyn Kelly appeared on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Wednesday and issued the same demand.

"There needs to be an outside investigation into this company," Kelly insisted during the exchange with Carlson. "They investigated themselves! That doesn't work. Fox News had an outside investigator. CBS News had an outside investigator. NPR, the NFL — this is how it's done."

This story has been updated.