Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell among more than 60 women voicing support for Tom Brokaw

Cynthia Littleton
Updated

Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell, Maria Shriver and Kelly O’Donnell and more than 60 other women have voiced their support for Tom Brokaw in the wake of sexual harassment allegations leveled against the NBC News veteran.

The letter signed by current and former NBC News staffers praises Brokaw “as a man of tremendous decency and integrity” and as one who “treated each of us with fairness and respect.” It comes on the heels of reports in the Washington Post and Variety that Brokaw made unwanted sexual advances to former NBC News anchor Linda Vester in the mid-1990s.

Brokaw,” the letter reads, “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.”

Elizabeth Bowyer, co-head of brand and content strategy at Goldman Sachs, wrote the letter Friday morning and sent it to a number of NBC News staffers and alumni. Bowyer previously worked for Brokaw and NBC News producing the Tom Brokaw Reports documentary series. She also worked with Brokaw on his best-selling books The Greatest Generation and Boom: Voices of the Sixties.

Bowyer said the response to the letter was “overwhelming” and she received many emails from women asking that their names be included, with responses still coming in as of Friday evening.

Here is the complete letter:

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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