As the co-host of NBC's "Today," Matt Lauer once gave a colleague a sex toy as a present. It included an explicit note about how he wanted to use it on her, which left her mortified.

On another day, he summoned a different female employee to his office, and then dropped his pants, showing her his penis. After the employee declined to do anything, visibly shaken, he reprimanded her for not engaging in a sexual act.

He would sometimes quiz female producers about who they'd slept with, offering to trade names. And he loved to engage in a crass quiz game with men and women in the office: "f--, marry, or kill," in which he would identify the female co-hosts that he'd most like to sleep with.

These accounts of Lauer's behavior at NBC are the result of a two-month investigation by Variety, with dozens of interviews with current and former staffers. Variety has talked to three women who identified themselves as victims of sexual harassment by Lauer, and their stories have been corroborated by friends or colleagues that they told at the time. They have asked for now to remain unnamed, fearing professional repercussions. [...]

Lauer, who was paranoid about being followed by tabloid reporters, grew more emboldened at 30 Rockefeller Center as his profile rose following Katie Couric's departure from "Today" in 2006. His office was in a secluded space, and he had a button under his desk that allowed him to lock his door from the inside without getting up.