The story behind Andy Lack, the NBC executive behind Matt Lauer's firing that Trump just called out on Twitter
- NBC News chairman Andy Lack headed the network from 1993 to 2001, and again since 2015.
- He has had to do damage control for two major scandals in NBC's history, and was reportedly one of the key players in the decision to not run reporter Ronan Farrow's Harvey Weinstein scoop.
- Lack's career at NBC has been characterized by high ratings for a variety of its programs.
When NBC News announced in a memo on Wednesday that it had fired longtime anchor Matt Lauer after an employee came forward accusing him of sexual misconduct, President Donald Trump mentioned NBC News and MSNBC chairman Andy Lack in a tweet, thrusting a man who had largely functioned behind the scenes into the national spotlight.
Trump's tweet called for NBC and Comcast executives to be fired, and urged his followers to look into Lack's past.
In another tweet, Trump also called out MSNBC president Phil Griffin.
While it is unclear what Trump was referring to in his tweet, Lack, who authored the memo outlining the circumstances around Lauer's dismissal, first joined NBC as president in 1993 after a scandal involving a faked truck explosion on its "Dateline" program. He returned in 2015 after a 12-year absence during which he worked at the Sony Entertainment Group and Bloomberg.
When Lack returned to NBC in 2015, the network was again reeling from a scandal, this time perpetuated by anchor Brian Williams, who embellished an Iraq war story on "Late Night with David Letterman."
This year, Lack was also reportedly part of the decision-making process that resulted in NBC refusing to run reporter Ronan Farrow's story on producer Harvey Weinstein's pattern of sexual abuse. Farrow, who is also Woody Allen's son, eventually went to the New Yorker with his scoop instead.
Lack drove high ratings and restored credibility to NBC after two high-profile controversies
After working for years at CBS News as a producer for "60 Minutes," Lack sought to undo the damage the truck scandal had done to the NBC's credibility, and NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw became the number one evening news program under his leadership. Other programs like "Today," "Meet the Press," and "Dateline" also enjoyed record ratings, The New York Times reported.
WNET chief executive and "Dateline" executive producer Neal Shapiro told the Times that the success of "Dateline" came largely as a result of Lack's expansion of the program.
"It became a huge profit engine for NBC," Shapiro said. "Andy deserves a lot of credit for expanding it from one night. It was his idea."
In 1996, NBC introduced MSNBC, at which Lack fostered Williams' early career. After his Iraq war scandal, Lack subsequently suspended Williams, and replaced him with anchor Lester Holt. NBC shows again enjoyed ratings boosts under Lack's renewed leadership upon his return in 2015, and in January 2017 he hired anchor Megyn Kelly, who had previously worked at Fox News for 12 years.