NBC News chairman Andy Lack is stepping down and will “transition out of the company,” the network announced Monday.
The move comes as part of a company reorganization that houses NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC under the newly formed NBC Universal News Group. Cesar Conde, who oversees NBCUniversal International Group, will now lead that department.
Lack has come under fire for not adequately addressing the systemic causes of sexual harassment cases at the network after allegations against Matt Lauer, one of its biggest stars, emerged in 2017. He’s also faced his own sexual harassment allegations in recent months.
Under Lack’s leadership, the network was scrutinized for refusing to run Ronan Farrow’s landmark story on sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein that year. Lack later defended that decision, saying Farrow “had nothing yet fit to broadcast” when he brought the story to NBC News.
But sources at the network told HuffPost in 2017 that NBC News’ leaders actively crippled Farrow’s reporting, insisting that he could not use an NBC News camera crew to interview a woman accusing Weinstein of rape and forcing him to pay out of pocket for a camera crew.
More recently, Lack faced workplace sexual harassment allegations of his own in a book Farrow published last fall. In the book, a representative of Lack denied the accusations. Lack did not publicly address the issue at the time.
Farrow tweeted Monday he was “grateful to the sources who spoke.”
UltraViolet, an online community of women against sexism, also championed Lack’s ouster.
“After a career of enabling sexual abusers, preying on women in the workplace, and silencing stories from survivors, Andy Lack’s name is synonymous with NBCUniversal’s toxic workplace culture,” the group said in a statement. “Lack should have been forced to step down after Ronan Farrow’s reporting exposed his role covering up sexual abuse at the network.”