A new report states that NBC paid off a former employee who claimed she was sexually harassed by Chris Matthews when she used to work on his show.

According to The Daily Caller, a former assistant producer for Hardball spoke with network executives in 1999 and complained about some sexually-charged comments Matthews made about her. The report states that Matthews was “formally reprimanded” after a review on the matter, but even though his remarks were considered “inappropriate” and “juvenile,” the network determined they were not intended as propositions.

Nonetheless, two sources told Daily Caller that the network paid Matthews’ accuser $40,000 to settle the incident.

NBC addressed the report by confirming that there was a separation-related compensation involved when the woman left the network. However, the network disputed the $40,000 figure, insisting that the package was actually a lot smaller than that.

The news about old accusations against Matthews come in as the country continues to reel from sexual misconduct scandals that have impacted everything from the entertainment and media businesses to government.

Late last month, NBC fired TODAY host Matt Lauer when multiple accusations of inappropriate behavior came to light. NBC also recently parted ways with Morning Joe contributor Mark Halperin.

[Image via screengrab]

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