After the Matt Lauer news broke yesterday, his TODAY co-hosts, Samantha Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, addressed the story head-on, saying they were “heartbroken” by the account.

“We just learned this moments ago, just this morning,” a shocked-looking Guthie said, suggesting that this was the first time the co-hosts had heard mention of the bombshell allegations.

But what if they already knew? That’s what Variety writer Ramin Setoodeh, who co-wrote the devastating account detailing the allegations against Lauer, suggested when he appeared on CNN this morning.

“Our sources say it wasn’t even considered a secret,” he said. “It was known by many employees at the TODAY Show, including some employees that have gone on television and said publicly ‘we had no idea.'”

“Some of the other personalities, on-air personalities, were aware of these allegations.”

As if it wasn’t clear enough already, Setoodeh doubled down on the suggestion that Guthrie and Kotb knew about the allegations before yesterday morning.

“According to our sources, the co-anchors were aware of some of these allegations,” he said. “They’re having trouble reckoning what some of these anchors said in private conversations versus what was said on TV yesterday.”

“We believe there will be more evidence about ‘who knew what when’ that will come out in the reporting in the days to come.”

Setoodeh also said that Variety has interviewed several more victims and that he is “confident” they will step forward to tell their story in the near future.

[image via screenshot]

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