Image : Associated Press

A day after two women accused Tom Brokaw of sexually harassing them in the 90s, an open letter defending his “tremendous decency and integrity” was signed by over 60 women who currently do or have previously worked for NBC News, including anchors like Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell, and Maria Shriver. Mika Brzezinski joined over Twitter on Friday evening, saying, “add me to the list.” It parallels the “but-he-elevated-women” template which Katie Roiphe used for former Paris Review editor Lorin Stein and Lena Dunham did for Girls writer Murray Miller, and the less credible “this-isn’t-the-person-I-knew” statements which Katie Couric and Savannah Guthrie made on behalf of Matt Lauer.




Brokaw wrote in a 4AM email published by the New York Times that he is “angry, hurt and unmoored from what I thought would be the final passage of my life and career” and “ambushed and then perp walked across the pages of The Washington Post and Variety.” Meanwhile, Joy Reid’s slogging it out on her own.

Here’s the letter, in full:

Subject: Letter on Tom Brokaw

As professional women, we fully endorse the conversation around abuse of power in the workplace. In the context of that conversation, we would like to share our perspectives on working with Tom Brokaw.


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

Anne Binford Allen

Heather Allan

Marilyn Altman

Liz Bowyer

Mary Casalino

Christine Colvin Casper

Martha Cotton

Karen Curry

Sara Cusimano

Helene Darvick

Linda Ellman

Judy Farinet

Dianne Festa

Tammy Fine

Mary Laurence Flynn

Susan Friedman

Soraya Gage

Maralyn Gelefsky

Cheryl Gould

Erika Beck Grothues

Colleen Halpin

Jody Henenfeld

Susan Morris Holey

Julie Holstein

Julie Huang

Peggy Hubble

Kiko Itasaka

Nancy Jacoby

Kat Keeney

Ann Kolbell

Audrey Beles Kolina

Susan LaSalla

Rachel Maddow

Donna Mastrangelo-Ryan

Andrea Mitchell

Mauri Moore

Frieda Morris

Elena Nachmanoff

Michele Neubert

Kelly O’Donnell

Bonnie Optekman

Mary Alice O’Rourke

Nancy Doyle Palmer

Polly Powell

Meaghan Rady

Elizabeth Vaughan Romaine

Amy Rosenberg

Stephanie Ruhle

Bita Ryan

Ruby Shamir

Maria Shriver

Robin Skolnick

Andrea Smith

Patricia Sullivan

Clare Duffy Swift

Yuka Tachibana

Bambi Tascarella

Zoya Taylor

Dee Dee Thomas

Anne Thompson

Kelly Venardos

Kristen Welker

Carolyn Wheatley

Mary Wolf