Rachel Maddow, Maria Shriver Among Over 60 Women Who Sign Letter of Support for Tom Brokaw

“Tom has treated each of us with fairness and respect,” says letter signed by current and former colleagues of NBC News journalist

Tom Brokaw
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More than 60 woman have rallied behind Tom Brokaw amid the NBC News journalist’s ongoing sexual misconduct scandal.

“We are current and former colleagues of Tom’s, who have worked with him over a period spanning four decades,” reads the letter written by former “Tom Brokaw Reports” producer Elizabeth Bowyer. “We are producers, correspondents, anchors, directors, executives, researchers, personal assistants, editors and technical staff.”

Bowyer told Variety, which first broke the news of the allegations against Brokaw alongside the Washington Post on Thursday, that the response from women asking to have their name added to the letter was “overwhelming.”

The long list of names signed on the letter includes Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell and Maria Shriver.

“Tom has treated each of us with fairness and respect,” it reads. “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.”

On Thursday, The Washington Post and Variety published bombshell reports detailing the accounts of two women, former NBC correspondent Linda Vester and an unnamed former NBC News production assistant, who said that Brokaw made unwanted advances toward them in the 1990s, when he was the anchor of “NBC Nightly News.”

In an email sent to NBC News colleagues on Friday, Brokaw fired back and vigorously denied the allegations, referring to them as a “torrent of unsubstantiated criticism and attacks.”

Read the full letter below:

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

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