Report: Noah Oppenheim To Succeed Andy Lack At NBC News

Noah Oppenheim

NBC News renewed the contract of its controversial president Noah Oppenheim, who looks poised to succeed chairman Andy Lack despite weathering a slew of #MeToo scandals at the TV network, according to The NY Post.

Oppenheim — who has lately been blasted by Ronan Farrow for refusing to publish his explosive story about Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual misconduct while allegations against “Today” show host Matt Lauer were brewing — saw his contract renewed in recent months by the top brass at NBCUniversal, sources told The Post.

Specifics of Oppenheim’s renewal couldn’t be learned, but a source said such contracts are typically renewed for several years at a time. The 40-year-old exec is expected to succeed Lack, who is widely expected to retire after the 2020 presidential election, the source noted.

NBC declined to comment.

Upon learning Tuesday that Oppenheim’s contract had been renewed, several NBC employees said they were “outraged.”

“We thought both he and Lack were about to be fired,” one NBC insider told The Post. “No one has faith in them. They have made mistake after mistake, have told lies on top of lies. They have given the middle finger to journalism. Now one of them is rewarded with a multi-million dollar deal? It’s truly heartbreaking. Morale is at an all-time low.”

In his new book “Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators” published last week, Farrow claimed that under Lack and Oppenheim, NBC spiked a Weinstein story he pitched in 2017 partly because Weinstein had threatened to leak information about alleged sexual misconduct by former “Today” host Matt Lauer.

In the course of writing the book, Farrow heard from ex-NBC staffer Brooke Nevils, who claims that Lauer anally raped her while on assignment during the Olympics in Sochi, Russia in 2014. Nevils left NBC with a seven-figure settlement. Once word got out about the rape allegations, Lack and Oppenheim emphasized to NBC employees that it was not “an assault” or “criminal,” the book said.