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After taking aim at Questlove, cameramen say NBC protected Tom Brokaw
May 7, 2018
Julia Marsh
After taking aim at Questlove, cameramen say NBC protected Tom Brokaw
Two white TV cameramen who are suing NBC, claiming “Tonight Show” bandleader Questlove had them fired for simply receiving a racist text, have amended their lawsuit to call the Peacock Network hypocritical for protecting Tom Brokaw from accusations of sexual harassment.
Two white ?TV cameramen who are suing ?NBC, claiming “Tonight Show” bandleader ?Questlove ?had them fired for simply receiving a racist text?,? have amended their lawsuit to call the ?Peacock Network hypocritical for protecting Tom Brokaw from accusations of sexual harassment.
NBC canned Kurt Decker and Michael Cimino over the June 2017 incident “on the basis of the color of their skin,” the camera operators say in their original Manhattan suit, filed in January.
An unidentified stagehand sent Decker and Cimino the unsolicited text that included “a piece of fried chicken with a bite out of it along with a racial slur that inevitably depicts African Americans,” their attorney Richard Roth told The Post in January.
Neither cameraman responded to the message and informed bosses that they had nothing to do with it. Yet they were still fired after ?drummer ?Questlove allegedly demanded their heads? – a claim he’s denied.
Now the cameram?en are ?accusing NBC ?of a double standard when it comes to disciplining employees.
“Recently, after sexual harassment allegations surfaced agai??nst NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw, numerous women at NBC signed a letter hailing the veteran anchor as ‘a man of tremendous decency and integrity,’” Decker and Cimino say in their amended suit.
One anonymous NBC News staffer revealed to Page Six in April, “We felt forced to sign the letter supporting Brokaw. We had no choice, particularly the lower level staffers. The letter was being handed around the office and the unspoken threat was that if your name was not on it, there would be some repercussions down the road. Execs are watching to see who signed and who didn’t. This was all about coming out in force to protect NBC’s golden boy; the network’s reputation is tied to Brokaw … If more women come forward, that’s a big problem.”
An NBC spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on the new claims.
The original suit also called out NBC for knowing about but ignoring “Matt Lauer’s alleged serial sexual harassment.”
