Dozens of women who work, or worked, at NBC News and MSNBC have signed a letter in support of Tom Brokaw following allegations he sexually harassed a former NBC News correspondent and anchor Linda Vester.
The women have said Brokaw treated them “with fairness and respect” and have given them “opportunities for advancement and championed our successes.”
Among those signing the letter MSNBC hosts Rachel Maddow, NBC News contributor Maria Shriver and correspondents Anne Thompson, Andrea Mitchell and Kelly O’Donnell.
But it’s not just on air talent, but dozens of women with whom Brokaw worked in his more than 40 years with the network, including longtime former bureau chief Heather Allan, Nightly News’s head of foreign news Mary Laurence Flynn who traveled the world with Brokaw, and his former personal assistant Meaghan Rady, who rose through the ranks of NBC News becoming deputy bureau chief in Washington, D.C.
Update: By Saturday evening, the list had grown to 115 signatures.
Update: By Monday morning, the list had grown to 139 signatures.
Here’s the letter,
We are current and former colleagues of Tom’s, who have worked with him over a period spanning four decades. We are producers, correspondents, anchors, directors, executives, researchers, personal assistants, editors and technical staff.
Tom has treated each of us with fairness and respect. He has given each of us opportunities for advancement and championed our successes throughout our careers. As we have advanced across industries — news, publishing, law, business and government — Tom has been a valued source of counsel and support. We know him to be a man of tremendous decency and integrity.
Signed,
Susanna Aaron
Heather Allan
Anne Binford Allen
Marilyn Altman
Julie Chrisco Andrews
Ann Louise Bardach
Heidi Barker
Donna Bass
Liz Bowyer
Stacy Brady
Victoria Burston
Pamela Butler
Mika Brzezinski
Mary Casalino
Christine Colvin Casper
Laura Castorino
Barbara Cochran
Liz Cole
Nancy Cole
Chelsea Connor
Erin O’Connor Corcoran
Martha Cotton
Karen Curry
Sara Cusimano
Patricia Dalton
Helene Darvick
Allison Davis
Elizabeth Davis
Janice DeRosa
Barbara Duffy
Joan Ehrlich
Gretchen Eisele
Rehema Ellis
Linda Ellman
Judy Farinet
Linda Fasulo
Dianne Festa
Tammy Fine
Elizabeth Fischer
Lynn Flaster
Mary Laurence Flynn
Susan Friedman
Soraya Gage
Roxanne Garcia-Bell
Kim Grabina-Como
Maralyn Gelefsky
Alexandra Gleysteen
Carol Grisanti
Kyle Good
Cheryl Gould
Erika Beck Grothues
Tina Gruettner
Charlene Gubash
Sylvie Haller
Colleen Halpin
Jody Henenfeld
Sarah Hodder
Susan Morris Holey
Kate Hollanda
Blair Holman
Julie Holstein
Kit Hopkins
Julie Huang
Peggy Hubble
Betty Hudson
Joyce Hurley
Kiko Itasaka
Nancy Jacoby
Janet Garfield Jamieson
Geraldine Jansen
Lucy Jarvis
Bethany Thomas Jordan
Ronni Jordan-Blondi
Mary Kahler
Naomi Karam
Paris Keena
Kat Keeney
Judith Kerr
Joan Kiplinger
Ann Kolbell
Audrey Beles Kolina
Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson
Patty Lang
Susan LaSalla
Rachel Maddow
Aretha Marshall
Donna Mastrangelo-Ryan
Ellen McKeefe
MaryEllen Meehan
Andrea Mitchell
Mauri Moore
Frieda Morris
Lisa Myers
Elena Nachmanoff
Michele Neubert
Kelly O’Donnell
Bonnie Optekman
Mary Alice O’Rourke
Betsy Osha
Nancy Doyle Palmer
Gay Pirozzi
Polly Powell
Gemma Puglisi
Meaghan Rady
Meagan Redman
Elizabeth Vaughan Romaine
Amy Rosenberg
Merle Rubine
Stephanie Ruhle
Bita Ryan
Cynthia Samuels
J. Nicole Sanderson
Ruby Shamir
Maria Shriver
Helen Siegelin
Robin Skolnick
Andrea Smith
Martha Spanninger
Maureen Stamm
Nancy Steiner
Patricia Sullivan
Rita Sultana
Clare Duffy Swift
Yuka Tachibana
Jenny Tartikoff
Bambi Tascarella
Zoya Taylor
Dee Dee Thomas
Anne Thompson
Christiana Arvetis Tye
Kelly Venardos
Betsy Wagner
Susan Bitner Weaver
Lucille Weener
Elissa Weldon
Kristen Welker
Carolyn Wheatley
Elizabeth Wilner
Mary Wolf