Fans Are Angry after ‘Today’ Excludes Matt Lauer from Its 25th Anniversary Video

NBC's "Today" show has recently celebrated 25 years, but some fans did not appreciate the way the network chopped former news anchor Matt Lauer from the celebratory video.

On Thursday, NBC used their social media pages to share a five-minute video in honor of the 25 years since the creation of the show, showing several special moments that took place during that period of time.

But, while several anchors were featured in the video, such as Hoda Kotb and Al Roker, Lauer was nowhere to be found, which was not acceptable for some fans.

LAUER'S DOWNFALL

For those who might not remember, Lauer was fired from the "Today" show back in 2017 following several accusations of sexual assault and inappropriate sexual behavior at work.

The 61-year-old was the ultimate face of the show, having been appointed co-anchor of NBC's morning news program in 1997, covering all sorts of stories, including interviews with American presidents.

THE PEOPLE'S OPINION

However, despite ruling "Today" for two decades, that didn't save Lauer from being absent from the anniversary video and a couple of people took to Twitter to criticize the network.

A user by the name of Richard Iniguez claimed that all "families" are flawed in one way or another and that Lauer's "serious issues" shouldn't have caused him to be "erased" from the history of the show.

Cheryl Leichtman, another Twitter user, argued that there would be no "Today" show if it wasn't for Lauer's "huge contribution." But there were also people who defended NBC, such as Jane P.

According to the user:

"When a member of your family had a button on his desk to lock women in his office so he could commit sexual assault, sexual harassment, and also adultery, I think the “family” is well within its rights to crop him out of the photo."

LOCKING A CO-WORKER IN HIS OFFICE

The button mentioned by Jane was an alleged device that would lock the door of his office and was reportedly used by Lauer to sexually assault a former colleague in a chair in 2001.

Reports claimed that the woman, whose identity is yet to be revealed, passed out during the ordeal, only to wake up several hours later when she was taken to a nurse by his assistant.