Former 'Today' staffer speaks about Lauer affair

Addie Collins Zinone, a former NBC News production assistant for the "Today" show spoke out about the  month-long sexual relationship she had with the married Matt Lauer in the summer of 2000.

Zinone interviewed with former Fox News host Megyn Kelly who now hosts a lesser-known show whose title escapes me. 

In the aftermath of coming forward about the hot times with the old guy (she was 24, he was in his 40s) Zinone is facing attacks online for coming forward.

One person who is not President Trump tweeted: 

"Stop playing the victim! You are NOT a victim! You are a whore! Plain and simple."

I don't agree with that completely, but I do believe they both were wrong to have the affair. But I do mostly agree with the next tweet:

"Addie Zinone just wanted some 5 minutes attention...her affair with Matt Lauer was 100% consensual and she honestly should have never brought it up. She made the choice to be a homewrecker and gives a bad name to the real #MeToo people."

The only problem I have with the above tweet is referring to her as a "homewrecker." The so-called home she allegedly 'wrecked' was probably waiting for the wrecking ball before the affair began. You need to call Lauer a homewrecker too.

Then there came angry, somewhat illiterate tweets, but I won't go into them because they're simply angry and stupid.

Zinone described the negative feedback she received since revealing the affair.

"I understand that people are going to paint me as a homewrecker, as a slut and a whore and those are things I have been called. It was suggested yesterday to me that 'Please please go get hit by a bus,'" she told Kelly.

The alleged affair lasted about a month and Zinone claims to take full responsibility for her actions, calling them a "massive mistake" that still haunts her, but she asserted that Lauer steered her into the uncomfortable situation.

So which is it? Lauer steering her into the uncomfortable situation is to blame, or her going along with it and having sex with Lauer?

"These are very hard things to talk about," she told Kelly's TV audience of hundreds. "My family is shattered by this. They are afraid for me. This all trickles down to a lot of people that are affected, so having these conversations is really important, but also there's a lot of shame attached to what I did." 

So she's telling the world what she did in order to absolve herself of the shame while kind of blaming Lauer while pretending to take responsibility.

Zinone alleged that she struggled with hiding her story for 17 years and was fearful of telling the world about her shame.

So why did she have to tell the world of hundreds of Megyn Kelly viewers?

Her shame, she seems to be hoping, can be marketable. Can't wait for the tell-all book about her four weeks of fame.


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